Content Warning: The following email discusses firearm suicide. If you or someone you know is contemplating suicide, there is help. Call or text 988 or visit 988lifeline.org to reach the free and confidential 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline.

Hi friend,

I’m Hannah Tyler, and I work on the Development Team here at Brady. I come to this work as a gun suicide loss survivor, and I want to talk to you about something very important to me: World Mental Health Day.

Seven years ago, two weeks into my senior year of high school, I lost my dad, David, to gun suicide. I miss the joy and laughter he brought to my life and those around him. He was always telling a story – whether from his childhood on different military bases or about all the interesting people he’d met competitively playing soccer, basketball, and golf. My brothers and I were always laughing with him. 

Me and my dad in 2002

I stay in this work to honor his memory. I want to harness my lived experience to change the devastating reality of gun suicide in this country. The hard truth is that the majority of gun deaths are the ones that many don’t know how to talk about – for 30 years, more than half of gun deaths in the U.S. have been firearm suicides. And friend, if we want to prevent gun violence, we need to talk about mental health.

World Mental Health Day is a time to acknowledge how mental health is inextricably linked to the countless lives touched by gun suicide. Please, friend, will you sign our card to show your care and support for gun suicide loss survivors and those lives lost? >>

What’s hardest is that you often won’t see the warning signs. That’s what makes preventative measures so critical. Addressing mental health is essential to reducing the rising firearm suicide rates, and policy changes and safe storage are crucial to reducing the lethality of a suicide attempt. Devastatingly, 85-90% of suicide attempts with a firearm end in death, but 70% of those who survive a suicide attempt never attempt again. 

Grief as a suicide loss survivor is complicated, and it’s tinged with stigma and isolation. The shame and guilt that often come with suicide loss make it difficult to talk about and even more complex to heal from. But we can’t let the stigma around suicide prevent critical conversations that can drive change. That’s why I’m using my voice today, because talking about mental health can save lives. 

Simply put, insufficient mental healthcare and access to guns can have deadly consequences. In fact, guns in the home increase the likelihood of firearm suicide threefold. It can be hard to discuss suicide, but informing the people in your life of that fact can be life-changing. And when kids who have a parent die by suicide are at increased risk for suicide or attempts, your conversations may go further than you’ll ever know.

Friend, will you honor World Mental Health Day and sign our card? Please add your name to show your support for firearm suicide loss survivors and the lives lost to firearm suicide. >>

Sincerely,

Hannah Tyler

Gun Suicide Loss Survivor

Development Associate, Brady