Laura Jane Grace gives advice to those with suicidal thoughts

September is Suicide Prevention Month in the U.S. so, with this in mind, Against Me! vocalist Laura Jane Grace took part in an interview with Alternative Press in which she spoke about suicide thoughts, and gave advice on how to handle these when they come.

“I’m, in many ways, really thankful to have hit rock bottom, emotionally, in that sense — to have had like a suicidal nervous breakdown and to have completely lost it,” she starts. “It was a place of understanding that took me a long time of working with trained professionals, with psychotherapists, to get to a place of acceptance where you can have empowerment from that; where, once you find the edge and you can see over the other side, why not fuckin’ stick around and see what happens?

“When I had that realisation, it was really freeing because then it was like all my inhibitions dropped in a lot of ways because it was like realising where the door was and that I could leave at any time; it was almost then like, ‘I wanna stay and see what happens, and fuck it.’

She also points out that seeking professional advice is important, and one shouldn’t be discouraged if they don’t immediately find the correct therapist.

“Coming to that place or getting to that place, I couldn’t really have gotten there if I had reached out and talked to someone. In this case, it was professionals like psychotherapists, and I know that’s not always an option for people. And I know sometimes even if it is an option, like the person or professionals that you get to talk to aren’t very helpful, it can be like getting bad advice or not really looking out for your best interests.

“In my experience, what was really important was vocalising how I felt, talking about it and talking out loud and not having it all internalised and locked up inside my head. It was really just saying it out loud and putting myself out there in a way that was really beneficial.

“But I just tell people all the time: ‘Stay alive. Just stay alive.’”

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