Free Book Shares How to Survive Being Suicidal

Free Book Shares How to Survive Being Suicidal

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A book of true stories about how four kiwis survived being suicidal will be launched on the 12th of October and it’s going to be free for New Zealanders so anyone can get hold of it.

The Butterfly Diaries aims to remove the stigma around suicide and help people feel more comfortable talking about it. “If we can’t talk about feeling suicidal, we can’t talk about how to stop feeling suicidal…there is quite literally a fatal flaw in our culture of silence,” says the book’s editor Miriam Larsen-Barr of Engage Aotearoa. “Not only is it empowering to tell your story but it empowers those who hear it to have the courage to speak up and say ‘I feel that way too,’” writes Mike King in the foreword to the book.

A charitable initiative from Engage Aotearoa, The Butterfly Diaries shares the voices of the true experts in what it takes to prevent suicide – the people who have learned to prevent themselves from acting on suicidal thoughts. In 2011, Engage Aotearoa began interviewing six people who had recovered from being suicidal. In 2012, the interview notes were passed on to six creative writers, who worked for over a year to turn the notes into creative stories. The Butterfly Diaries Volume 1 shares the first four recovery stories, written by Raewyn Alexander, Henrietta Bollinger, Owen Bullock, and Phoebe Wright, together with a foreword by Mike King, introduction by Miriam Larsen-Barr and a summary of each storyteller’s recovery tips.

Free copies of The Butterfly Diaries will be placed in high schools and GP waiting rooms across the country, to make hopeful recovery stories and support information easy to find. In New Zealand, one in every six people has suicidal thoughts each year and New Zealand has one of the highest rates of suicide in the developed world. Suicide rates peak among young people and older people. Most people who attempt suicide visit their GP in the months leading up to their attempt, even if they do not talk about how they are feeling. The Butterfly Diaries puts recovery perspectives where they are needed the most.

Members of the public and community organisations can order free copies of the book on the Engage Aotearoa website by making a donation to cover the costs of postage. There is no minimum or maximum donation. People are invited to donate what they can towards covering postage costs and making more copies available, but Engage Aotearoa will cover the costs of posting books if it means getting copies to someone who needs it. All of the information needed to get a copy of The Butterfly Diaries can be found on the Engage Aotearoa website at www.engagenz.co.nz.  

Anyone who is in Auckland on the 12th of October can pick up their copy of The Butterfly Diaries in person at the launch. The Butterfly Diaries will be launched on Saturday the 12th of October at Fiesta in the Park, a free music event at Western Park in Ponsonby.  The Butterfly Diaries tent will be open from 12:00 until 4:30, where passersby can drop in to pick up a copy of the book, add their own survival tip to the interactive display, chill out in the reading corner or catch one of the author readings that will be taking place on the hour from 12:30 – 3:30.

ENDS

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