About Us
DISCHARGED was founded in May 2018 after years of collaboration, advocacy, dreaming and hard work.
When trying to reach out for help many of us have been shut down, shamed, told to toughen-up and had our identities questioned or invalidated. Some of us have had the police called or been forced to go to hospital when we really just needed someone to hear how much we were hurting. For others, being hospitalised proved more harmful than helpful to our lives and our wellbeing. There was nowhere we could talk openly about our suicidal thoughts without the fear of consequences - so we created DISCHARGED.
We are an organisation that is driven by lived experience. We specialise in running peer support groups for people with personal experience of suicidal thoughts or feelings. Our support groups create space for us to come together and talk about suicide without being judged or put through a risk assessment. We focus on self-help and mindfully listen to each other’s stories, rather than trying to ‘fix’ or diagnose problems.
Why DISCHARGED?
You might be wondering why our name is always capitalised. DISCHARGED is actually an acronym that we created by weaving the values of the Alternatives to Suicide Charter together to form something meaningful to us. We believe that people are Deserving of Inclusion, Support, Community, Hope, Authenticity, Respect, Growth, Empathy and Dignity. Our name, which is also associated with the processes of leaving hospital, reflects our desire for alternative options to current crisis management systems that emphasise in-patient treatment.
”I thought I was the only one like this, until I heard them speak.”
- group attendee
Our Vision
A world where suicidal thoughts or feelings are seen as normal human experiences.
Our Purpose
Empowering communities through education and peer-support groups where suicidal thoughts can be explored without crisis management or clinical intervention.
Our Values
Curiosity not judgement.
By accepting and respecting that everyone is the expert of their own experience, we deeply listen and hold space for others to explore and interpret their distress.
Peers not clinicians.
Lived experience brings distinct insights into the stigma and misunderstanding often encountered when seeking help for being suicidal. As peers we use this unique position to offer humility and empathy, breaking the cycle of disempowerment.
No shame, just connection.
Societal responses and the unquestioned belief that people should live at all costs, often make people feel ashamed when speaking of their desire to die. Through mutual sharing and the challenging of social norms, our load lightens and we begin to feel human again.
A safe place to talk.
We acknowledge the traumatic impact of welfare checks and forced hospitalisation. Privacy and autonomy are central to our ethics; we will never hold any form of power over attendees.
With gratitude to our stakeholders
A special thank you goes out to our biggest supporters, advocates and allies. The following organisations have helped us get to where we are today with guidance, resources, training and ongoing commitment to sourcing us grants and funding. We would not be here without them. To find out more about them, click on one of their logos.
