Gays and Lesbians depression : Suicidal

When Noi was 21 she fell in love for the first time with a woman. She was so happy; she came out to everyone about her relationship. “Everybody was fine with my sexuality.” She explains. “But when my girlfriend broke up with me three months later, I became depressed. Nobody knew what to do or say because no one understood our relationship.

I stopped eating and going to university, and cut and bruised myself deliberately. I was planning to kill myself but my sister going to have a baby, who I really wanted to meet, so I didn’t go through with it.

My ex-girlfriend also convinced me that people would care if I wasn’t around.

Noi, now 27 took anti-depressants for six years and, although she slowly weaned herself off them, says she still live with depression. “I’ve been going to a counselor and I’m trying to find other ways to deal with it, like exercising and talking to my friends. The reason I was suicidal was I felt alone. People thought I was a different person, just because my relationship was with a woman.”

Noi is starting to win her battle with depression and suicidal thoughts, but she’s one of the lucky ones. Around 500 Thai women will take their lives this year, many of whom suffer from depression. Even scarier? For every completed female suicide in Thailand, there are 35 attempts – that means a further 16,500 women will try to take their lives, but not succeed.