27/09/2025
"I would drown a drum of poison if that would make my death dramatic and make my parents notice me...."Says a 17 year old girl...
I woke up one morning and found several missed calls 📞, it's often my custom not to carry the phone to the bedroom...But this bothers me because I know who have called. A friend of mine, Jane. A dedicated mother, wife and teacher in one of the schools that offer Psychosocial support to students...
This time, it's not about feedback from her students, I wish it was...It's about her daughter who has been threatening su***de for a while now untill it became a known talk to family. Jane eventually got used to hearing it 🤣 and normalised it. The Father, Amos, would joke around ..."No,,no, don't say that, we have a fragile person in the family " he would joke whenever there was a hard conversation...
What was interesting is that no one really bothered to know why The daughter, Agnes was struggling with suicidal thoughts. It was quickly assumed that she was just emotionally weak and that she was using this to avoid responsibility...
Jane is not only scared, but also confused I could get that from tone. I quickly agreed on a meeting with Agnes. Her mother would bring her. We had a two-hour session with Agnes. She had attempted su***de. She cut her wrists on both hands and walked to the living room blood dripping ðŸ˜. It was a painful thing to see for Jane and Amos. But she didn't want to die, she wanted to be seen, heard and considered.
Agnes felt like she had lived under the shadow of her elder sister, Maureen who is naturally outgoing, brilliant and beautiful. Maureen is always attracting attention to herself and Agnes believes away from her so effortlessly. Not just of strangers but also of their parents. She has always thought of a way to for once have her parents see and hear her. Not until a tragedy struck in their neighbour's house.
One of the neighbours lost their child, a girl Agnes had considered a friend to death by su***de. The friend, Mary had been the black sheep of the family. Took all the blame, sustained the family's dysfunctions. But when it was enough for Mary, she ended it. This is not what attracted Agnes to attempting su***de. It was the affection, the care, the overwhelming love that the family were now showing Mary. But also the devastation, guilt, anger and fear she saw in Mary's parents and siblings. She wanted the same for her, love, care and affection for her dead body, at least she would be seen...But also the guilt, shame and devastation for her family members...
