Thread by @julie_is_alive

My suicide plan was to steal a bunch of narcotics and anti-emetics, go to the beach, and swim out into the Gulf until either the drugs overtook me or I became exhausted and drowned. Then if I was "rescued" they wouldn't realize I was dying from overdose until its too late #SeaTac

I no longer work at a job where stealing a lethal amount of narcotics would be easy and I don't want to die, but sometimes I stand on the beach and wonder if it would have been the drugs or the water that would have taken me.

I was in a bad place and no one knew. I couldn't ask for help, I didn't know how. People helped me, they just didn't know it. A kind smile, a generous moment of understanding, that gave me hope that maybe there was something to live for.

There was a website that I visited several times a day that explained to me that I didn't want to die, just to stop hurting and that there is a big difference between dying and feeling better. I clung to that. Repeated it over and over.

I'm alive, life is still hard, I still have regrets I can never give up, but I'm glad I'm still here.

You don't know what that stranger at the grocery store is going through. You don't know your co-worker's pain. If you have an opportunity to to do something nice, do it. It might be the one thing that keeps someone alive today.

We are all just one decision away from death. I wish I could have helped this guy who stole the plane. I hope his pain is gone now.

Now, someone needs to embrace those air traffic controllers, I can't imagine their pain. They are heroes who tried, but as a nurse, I've tried and been unsuccessful before, and it hurts. A lot.

The job I work at now is gentle. I was once traumatized by an incident and they allowed me to take a month off to recover. I came back with a renewed loyalty to my work and patients. Employers need to be good like that, it keeps employees alive.

Thanks for coming to my mental health talk. Please go out of your way to do something kind for someone today. #MentalHealthMatters