Top Tweets for #Sharescience

Today is World Suicide Prevention Day. In September 2019, I attempted to take my own life. This was the last photograph taken before it happened. I looked happy, carefree and full of life. Inside, I was fighting a war no one could see. Nine months earlier, I had faced an impossible choice between my parents and a baby who never had the chance to choose. Terrified of facing the world alone as a single mother, I underwent an abortion at 17 weeks. The months that followed were devastating. Physically, mentally and emotionally. I became convinced that I was a burden. That I had not been brave enough to stand up for myself. That I had failed to make the “right” choice and no longer deserved to live. One late-night call changed everything. My best friend stayed with me through the darkest hours and helped me survive. I later sought professional help, only to be told: “Forget it. It is done now. Find a new man, settle down and everything will feel normal.” It did not. Grief does not disappear because someone tells you to move on. Trauma does not leave simply because life looks normal from the outside. But slowly, I learned how to live alongside it. It did get better. The PTSD has not vanished and healing has never been a straight road. But today, I love my life. I am profoundly grateful that I survived September 2019. Because 2021 happened. I found a purpose bigger than my pain and built a caring family with the women and girls we serve in Pune. And then 2026 happened. I married a man who loves me gently, stands beside me fiercely and has held my hand through some of the most painful days of my life. I found the safety, partnership and family I once believed I would never have. The woman who wanted to die in 2019 had no idea that this life was waiting for her. So, if you are struggling today, please hold on. Not because everything will magically become easy, but because pain can change. Life can change. And the future may still be quietly preparing something beautiful for you. Tell someone. Ask them to stay. Seek professional help, and if the first person fails you, please keep looking. Their inability to understand your pain does not mean you cannot be helped. And check on the people who always say, “I’m fine.” Sometimes the brightest smile is simply a mask worn exceptionally well. I wore mine until it became too heavy. Some days, I still wear it. But now I have an army beside me, and I no longer carry it alone. You deserve to stay. Love, AK