I chose to do two anti-suicide PSA’s. My first one is about how sexual abuse is a leading factor in why people commit suicide. However, not all the letters are found in the words “sexual abuse”, and it has the start of the game hangman next to it. I think its saying that if you can’t figure out what is wrong, it might be too late to help them, just like how if you guess too many wrong letters, he gets hung and dies This ad was made in Romania by antisuicid.com to spread awareness about the possible causes of suicide and what to look out for. I think it will be pretty easy for me to analyze the poster because I can talk about why they chose to do the game hangman, the grim colors, the word they are trying to spell out, the organization, and much more.
The next one is most likely the one I am going to do my speech on. It’s a dark background with a noose in front of it. What makes this poster more personal is the text under the noose, which says; “He saw his daughter’s skipping rope as the only way out.” Since the poster talks about his kid it highlights how suicide isn’t only affecting the person who takes their life, but also everyone around them, including their children if they have any. I can analyze why the add brought up children, the central focus on the noose, the dark background, and more. This ad was made by a group called Samaritans, based out of England, but they also have places in Scotland and Ireland. This organization was created to give a resource to those who are feeling suicidal. They can call the Samaritans at a certain number and have a conversation with them when they are at their worst.
I chose to do suicide prevention ads because when I was younger my mom killed herself, so ever since I’ve been interested in why people choose to hurt themselves and advocating for more conversations about mental health. I think doing projects and research about this topic is beneficial because most people are scared to reach out for help since there is still a stigma around people with mental illness, which can only change if people are educated on the topic.
September 26, 2021 at 4:47 pm
I liked both of these artifacts for our upcoming projects. The fact that both of these artifacts are from outside of the U.S. really drives home your idea that suicide is not just a problem in the U.S. These images carry a lot of weight emotionally, and I am interested to see how you analyze in your speech.
September 26, 2021 at 8:24 pm
Rylee, even in class when you gave your pitch, there was an obvious change in the mood of the room. There IS a very powerful taboo of topics concerning mental illness and suicides in our culture, and as you have said, that same avoiding attitude is what causes people who try to help be ineffective or unsure of what to do, over and over again. Doing this research does soften people’s subconscious attitude toward these topics, and people need to be exposed to the ways to help as well as the signs of suicide in people. I can see from your major and PAS post you care deeply about issues concerning mental illness, and I feel you will do a fantastic job of addressing these artifacts in an affective way.
September 27, 2021 at 10:39 am
Hi Rylee! I really think you chose impactful artifacts and I am excited to hear about how you extend off of them and compare and contrast their methods of promoting suicide prevention. The first one is really interesting due to the imagery present as it has such simple colors and a simple image, but like you discussed in the post these little details go a long way in terms of analysis. Similarly, I think that often times the reason for why individuals unfortunately turn to suicide is because there is a lot of ignorance around the event that led them to do so, just like sexual abuse. I think it’s really important to analysis the different realms of this artifacts while also pointing out the commonalities. Great job!