Laura's letter

Dear Laura,

The pain and hopelessness you feel right now is unbearable and it’s like nothing will ever change…it will, and it can if you stay alive.

This is what I wish I could have told myself when I tried to end my life…

You have nothing to feel ashamed of and you are not a burden or a failure. 

That shame you feel about how your feeling is nothing compared to the shame you felt waking up in the hospital bed. 

Your devastated boyfriend, looking at you with so much worry.

You were so worried about talking about it that you buried it all with a smile. Until you were so trapped there felt like no way out…

Nobody deserves to feel the way you did – you deserve to feel hope, peace and happiness.

Talking about how you’re feeling is really hard and you’ll feel vulnerable but it’s the bravest thing you’ll ever do.

You’ll slowly start to feel glad you’re still alive.

You won’t believe it now, but you’ll even start to want to stay alive and not just for your loved ones.

You’ll get engaged, buy a house and laugh endlessly at the silly things your cat and dog do. People that love you listen to you without judgement and don’t try to fix you. You’ll still struggle sometimes but you’ll learn coping strategies that help. 

If you can just hang on for one more day, that day will turn into two. Before you know it, you will have managed to stay alive for longer than you ever imagined.

You might even be able to tell your story and help others.

Try believing that there is a chance you can feel hope again. I promise you, you will. 

How do I know? Because this is my story.

Love Laura x