Thank you for Giles Fraser’s insightful piece on suicide (It is dangerous to think of suicide as heroic – or cowardly, 8 August).
What does take fortitude, though, is facing the reasons for wanting to kill yourself, such as mental pain, profound grief, overwhelming debt, unsustainable rejection etc – and the shame it is thought they bring with them, which we can feel puts us beyond self-acceptance and the reach of others.
When we can find the understanding to think of our suffering as part of being human, as Giles implies, and not a fault in ourselves, then going on living with the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, and not feeling constantly vulnerable, becomes a possibility, and not a curse.
Yair Klein
London
• In the UK the Samaritans can be contacted on 116 123; in the US the National Suicide Prevention Hotline is 1-800-273-8255; in Australia the crisis support service Lifeline is on 13 11 14
