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Saranique Schwartz

is a suicide attempt survivor.
this is her story

Saranique Schwartz

is a suicide attempt survivor.

"I survived a suicide attempt."

Saranique Schwartz is a dog trainer and business owner. She runs a biologically appropriate, behaviorally sound, holistic dog care program based out of Oakland called Très Chien (which also has a following on Instagram—follow @treschienwalks). She was 27 years old when I interviewed her in San Francisco, CA, on April 17, 2013.

I was just discovering that I was gay when I attempted suicide.

Saranique Schwartz is a suicide attempt survivor.My mom was super homophobic, my whole family was raised partially Mennonite, so… super religious, really homophobic. One of my adopted aunts was gay and I saw how she was treated by my grandfather and my grandmother who raised me partially, and I just knew that it was despicable. I hated myself for it for a while. I got a restraining order against my mom for abuse that happened regarding my homosexuality when I was 16. So, I definitely was at a point where I knew I liked girls and I didn’t want to like girls and I really hated myself for liking girls.

If I had not felt so horribly alone, I think I might have seen some value in continuing.

I just think that, as a kid, if I had been allowed to go to the queer youth center—I went one time and got in terrible trouble for going—if I had been allowed to go there, I think I could have at least found enough peace to not try to kill myself. I think I probably still would have cut myself. I probably still would have starved myself. All of that probably still would have happened, but if I had not felt so horribly alone, I think I might have seen some value in continuing.

 

Des:  How do you think we can kind of combat this whole issue of suicide?

Saranique:  It should be something people can talk about. It shouldn’t be this, “I’m so ashamed I was so weak that I did this.” I think that people who survive suicide attempts should talk more and I think that, in general, it should be talked about more.

It wasn’t something that was brought up in school. I was 13 the first time I [attempted suicide]. No one had ever talked to me about my mental health, let alone suicide. It wasn’t until maybe a year later that one of my teachers saw my cuts on my arms and said something. I got a little bit of therapy at that point, but it wasn’t anything I wanted.

I think access to mental health care is huge. I pay… I don’t have a car because I have a therapist. I pay out of pocket $100 to $150 every week for my therapist. If I didn’t own a business I wouldn’t be able to do that, and as it is, paying her is like what it would be to have another employee.

The only way to stop it is to start addressing the cause of that feeling.

I think access is huge and access to psychiatric medication is also huge. It’s extremely expensive, and if you aren’t functioning at the level that I know I wasn’t functioning at until I made up a job that suited my life… it just happened to work out for me. If it hadn’t worked out for me, I’d probably be homeless. ‘Cause I didn’t function at the level that I could be employed by somebody. It crushed me every day to be employed by somebody and to have to interact with people constantly and to have to do all these things that were extremely stressful for me. I just wanted everything to stop and I think if I hadn’t found work that worked for me, I wouldn’t be able to afford to take care of myself the way I do now. I wouldn’t be healthy. Suicide would probably still be an option, and it’s sad ‘cause you see it a lot here on the streets of San Francisco—people who really need access to mental health care that don’t have access. The only way to stop it is to start addressing the cause of that feeling…

It happens to people that you would never expect.

It’s not this mysterious thing that you read about on the news every once in a while. It happens all the time. It happens to people that you would never expect. I’ve never talked about this with any of my partners. I was with somebody for five years who never knew that I attempted suicide. I think a lot of my friends don’t know that I attempted suicide. A lot of my friends know about the last time I almost died of anorexia, but they don’t look at it from the standpoint of [me] trying to end of my life. I’ve never really talked about this.

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About Live Through This
Live Through This is a series of portraits and true stories of suicide attempt survivors. Its mission is to change public attitudes about suicide for the better; to reduce prejudice and discrimination against attempt survivors; to provide comfort to those experiencing suicidality by letting them know that they’re not alone and tomorrow is possible; to give insight to those who have trouble understanding suicidality, and catharsis to those who have lost a loved one; and to be used as a teaching tool for clinicians in training, or anyone else who might benefit from a deeper understanding of first-person experiences with suicide.
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Tax-deductible donations are made possible by Fractured Atlas, a non-profit arts service organization, which sponsors Live Through This. Contributions for the charitable purposes of Live Through This must be made payable to Fractured Atlas only and are tax-deductible to the extent permitted by law.
Please Stay
If you’re hurting, afraid, or need someone to talk to, please reach out to one of the resources below. Someone will reach back. You are so deeply valued, so incomprehensibly loved—even when you can’t feel it—and you are worth your life.
Find Help

You can reach the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline by dialing 988. Trans Lifeline is at 877-565-8860 (U.S.) or 877-330-6366 (Canada). The Trevor Project is at 866-488-7386. If you’d like to talk to a peer, warmline.org contains links to warmlines in every state. If you’re not in the U.S., click here for a link to crisis centers around the world. If you don’t like talking on the phone, you can reach the Crisis Text Line by texting HOME to 741-741.

NOTE: Many of these resources utilize restrictive interventions, like active rescues (wellness or welfare checks) involving law enforcement or emergency services. If this is a concern for you, you can ask if this is a possibility at any point in your conversation. Trans Lifeline does not implement restrictive interventions for suicidal people without express consent. A warmline is also less likely to do this, but you may want to double-check their policies.

Live Through This is dedicated to the lives of so many friends and family members lost to suicide over the years. If you would like to add the name of a loved one to this list, please email me.
Live Through This is dedicated to the lives of so many friends and family members lost to suicide over the years. If you would like to add the name of a loved one to this list, please email me.