Letters written by people bereaved by suicide will be shared on billboards over the next fortnight as part of a new campaign to address mental health stigma.
The Words Unspoken campaign, launched by charity Suicide&Co on Tuesday, will feature letters submitted by friends and relatives who have lost loved ones to help those who feel “silenced by the stigma of suicide”.
They were sent to the charity after a social media callout and will be posted on their website and on billboards across the UK.
“I just wish you knew how loved you were,” writes a child to her father in one of the letters.
“If I could just have our last moments together I'd change them and I'd tell you how much I love you,” a wife tells her late husband in another.
About 34,000 people are bereaved by suicide in the UK every year, according to the charity.
Paul McGregor, 32, told the Standard that writing the letter was “therapeutic” as he “found it hard to talk openly with friends and family”. His father took his own life 13 years ago.
“With the loss of someone to suicide, there's a huge amount of unanswered questions which become impossible for us bereaved by suicide to answer,” he added.
“The why's, the what if's, the but's and maybes, all of this adds to a huge amount of guilt, shame and sadness that again makes talking about the loss even more difficult.”
Mr McGregor said he hoped that the campaign would help bereaved people “feel less alone”.
“It never ever crossed my mind that I lose my Dad to suicide... but I did. Therefore, more awareness and education can certainly help people be more aware of the signs within themselves but also others,” he added.
Amelia Wrighton, chief executive and co-founder of Suicide&Co, said those who have been bereaved “can feel silenced by the stigma of suicide or feel they cannot express their grief”.
She said: “Words Unspoken has been created to bring the rawness of grief into the light and by building our online resource, we hope these letters can help others resonate through shared experience and remind us that we have company in our grief.”
