Battlefront You're Already Involved

I was just looking for some information about campaigners when I found this page.. this GRATE page. I didn't imagine that young people (like me) were able to do this, it's fantastic! And i'm very proud of you Josh, and proud of all the people that are taking part of this project. I'm 16 and I'm from Argenina, but if there's something I can do, email me please! Ofcourse i'm going to do my homework about you and all the staff!

Johanna, 30 June 2010 01:19

i am doing a choosing to participate project about suicide and i was wondering if you have any good ideas

Jenifer gray , 26 May 2010 17:58

My son Tyler hung himself and 3/08/09. Ty was only 14 years old and died twice. We did get him back by a mirical of god and the doctors. Ty is now 15 and is coming along way from where he was a year ago ( a satated coma) he is getting better day by day it is a very slow progress and I know I'm one of the lucky parents that get to have him with me everyday. Our lives have changed we have nurses in our home 16 hours a day and I feel like I could be a nurse now. I want to get the word out about this subject and really ask what is the magic number how many young teens need to feel so bad that they are doing this to make the world do something. I spend much of my time taking care of Ty and work full time but this is my passion. I have talked to the local school about teaching and talking about the subject more and at the end as part of the class have the kids write down 2 people that they feel safe to talk to about anything just trying to get them to really think about who they could go to with out judgement if they had a low point. The school has agreed to make this part of the program. They agreed that in that moment the teen probably feels they have no where to go and they are the only one that is feeling this way so maybe making them think it out could save some of our youth. I seen today that on twitter Demi Moore was able to help an 18 year old girl out of committing suicide. I will never give up on this and hope we can all come together to make a difference. This is the 3rd cause of death with teens and that is just not right.

kathy schutt, 22 March 2010 02:59

It's nice to see someone cares. I've tried suicide before, but my sister walked in before I had the chance to hang myself. They handled it all wrong; sent me to the Pack Unit. Was both damaging and embarrassing. I regret having ever tried. I'm glad they gave that girl a person too talk too. Most of the time, that's what a suicidal teenager needs is a good person to talk too, too hear them out. Or it could be a pat on the back, an affectionate "I do care about you" talk, or something like that. Alot of teens are afraid to ask questions about suicide, and a lot of parents are afraid to talk to their teens about suicide. I'm confident your campaign will put a stop to this circle.

Kenny, 28 February 2010 09:08

Suicide is a horrible thing, you don't only involve yourself, you involve familes and friends too.

Leanne, 25 January 2010 09:39

Hi Josh, Firstly, happy new year - please let us know how you're getting on? I think what you're doing for teenagers is wonderful - I don't think people realise just how big a problem teenage suicide is, until something like the incidents in Bridgend happen. I've come up with some ideas which you may or may not want to use. From a recent experience at a counselling session, my counsellor asked me whether I suspected an apparently "normal" person to have a mental illness. I replied "no". She then went on to say that she has Bipolar Disorder II - the same as myself. This filled me with hope and gave me a brighter outlook on the future. I think that if other teenagers met someone who is in professional career (perhaps a doctor, manager of a business, counsellor etc) who suffers with depression (whether it be Clinical Depression or Bipolar Depression) and they spoke about their depression, how it's impacted their life, how and what help they got etc, they would be able to relate to them and think 'you know what, I could be like them - I'm going to fulfil my life and seek help now'. Perhaps this could be introduced to schools? I also think that education could help teenagers. PSHE lessons include aspects of health; although from the 5 years of doing these lessons at school, not once was mental health brought up. I feel that if teenagers were educated on various mental health issues (not just depression), the signs and symptoms and help available etc they would find it less embarrassing/difficult to talk to someone. Alsoa couple of ideas for the website you were talking about launching; I think that on it you could have a section with help lines (Childline, Samaritans etc) as well as a crisis plans e.g. what to do if you've taken an overdose, cut yourself, having suicidal thoughts etc) as from past experiences the person may change their mind after they've taken action and not know where to get help from. Also on the website perhaps you could put a quiz type thing up where there's questions asking the person about symptoms of depression. I think this could help teens realise whether they do actually have depression - the first step to solving a problem is realising you've got one. Keep up your fantastic work, Liz

Liz, 07 January 2010 00:07

I would first like to say that i think your campaign and your story is truely amazing and very inspiring. Very recently i lost my best friend to suicide, she was a big self-harmer and attempted suicide several times before successfully taking her own life in October. Obviously i am truely devastated at her death but instead of wallowing any longer i feel like i want to try to make a difference to others who maybe are considering suicide and their families and close friends because i know what its like to lose somebody who is so close to you and dont want anyone else to have to go through that. Anyway, I wanted to ask your advice regarding setting up a campaign in my friend, Rebecca's memory. If you have any advice regarding starting a campaign, i.e. where to start i would really appreciate it if you could let me know. Good luck with your campaign and thank you.

Lauren, 08 November 2009 20:25