North Lanarkshire Council slammed for social media post on suicide
North Lanarkshire Council have made a public apology after a social media post regarding suicide received a huge backlash.
On Tuesday night, as part of their Suicide Prevention Campaign, the local authority posted a status on Facebook which said: “Suicidal thoughts are not an illness.”
Many users hit out at the post calling it “disgusting” and “extremely insensitive” while a suicide prevention organisation branded the post “utterly shameful”.
The council post read: “Suicidal thoughts are not an illness.
“Everyone has an individual story and worries of their own. It’s personal to you, your background, your experiences and your history.
“Your strength and personality will get you through it. By telling and sharing your story you can help yourself and others.
“Never give up on yourself or those you care about.”
Suicide prevention organisation WHY? The Graham Fraser Foundation hit out at the comments from the council.
A spokesperson said: “It’s utterly shameful to ever write such a thing. Shame, North Lanarkshire Council. Stand up and explain and apologise for writing such rubbish and being so insensitive.”
The foundation was set up by family after Graham, a 27-year-old father from Motherwell, took his own life last year.
Graham Fraser’s partner Natalie Fraser told us that she was disgusted by the post. She said: “We’re extremely disappointed at how insensitive North Lanarkshire Council have been towards so many families that have lost loved ones due to mental health and mental illness.
“Depression is definitely an illness and their comments are disgraceful and someone must be held accountable for it.
“They mentioned in the post that their personality will get you through. Our Graham had the biggest personality and biggest smile in the room and would always be the most outgoing character person.
“So personality doesn’t always get you through when you have a mental illness or when you have depression. It is not NOT an illness.”
There was a huge backlash against the council’s post by the public.
One person said: “This is the most disgusting post on suicide I have ever read.”
While another said: “I hope no one reading this is suicidal.”
And another added: “This post is one of the most damaging posts I have seen on social media in a long time. Removing it will not repair the hurt it has caused.”
The post has since been removed and the apology.
A spokesperson for Suicide Prevention North Lanarkshire said: “We apologise if our social media post about suicide prevention caused upset. This was certainly not the intention and we fully understand the sensitivities around this subject and that many people may experience mental ill health and suicidal thoughts at any point in their life.
“We are committed to offering support and advice through our suicide prevention campaign to anyone concerned about suicide or worried about someone with suicidal thoughts.” council have issued an