9.30am, the phone rings,
" Give me a reason why I don't die today......"
As a Lived Experience Peer Worker in Suicide Prevention this is unfortunately a question that I am asked to often.
How do you answer this honestly & allowing the fragile human on the other side of the question to maintain their dignity & their right to choose what's right for them.
I've had the absolute privileged to be a Lived Experience Suicide Post Vention Peer Worker for over 5 years & I struggle on a daily basis to balance the human aspect of Suicide Prevention against the increasing trend towards the medical model of programs
We know that Lived Experience Peer Work works
We see it in the results of Peer driven programs
But how do we keep doing what we do & why do we do it...?
For me, it's ....
The anxiety & nerves of sitting down with some one new
-why do I have the right to offer you support
The brutal honesty of the conversations
The absolute trust
The heartbreak & tears, both theirs & mine
The sheer joy in beginning to see progress.
The bittersweet moment of knowing your time together is coming to an end
The role of a Lived Experience Peer Worker is humbling, rewarding, emotionally exhausting, joyous & frustrating,
sometimes all in the one day
Let's share some of those moments & celebrate why we do it & what it means to those we continue to support at their most fragile & vunerable times
Why do I do it....?
Because I don't want anyone else to go through what I did alone.
Because I hope I can be the Peer Worker I wish I could have found when I needed it
" Give me a reason why I don't die today......"
" Because I just don't want you to....."