The semicolon being used as a symbol for suicide awareness was popularized in 2013, when Project Semicolon was started as a way for people to express their struggles while choosing to persist. The semicolon was chosen as the symbol because it is used to continue a sentence that you could have ended. Although the semicolon is primarily a symbol used for surviving a suicide attempt, it has been used to signify overcoming other challenges like domestic violence, substance abuse, and other mental health issues.
How people can help:
- Know the signs, have you noticed somebody..
- spending excessively
- giving away possessions they love
- suddenly seem very energetic
- caring less about responsibilities
- abusing substances
- hurting themselves or others
- sleeping excessively
- threatening to hurt themselves or others
- Research for those you care about. There are lots of resources about mental illness and suicide. Suicide is preventable
- Listen when people talk about suicide, take them seriously
