When Dark Humor Becomes Harmful

Do you ever find yourself or others saying:

“If I don’t sleep well tonight, I might jump off a cliff.”
“Kill me now!”
“__ is my 13th reason why” (a term coined from the Netflix show “13 Reasons Why,” which translates to “the last reason why I want to commit suicide”)

Dark humor has taken on a new life with the growth of its popularity on social media & the way it is used by our generation. Often, we find our dark sense of humor referencing death & suicide. Many have declared dark humor as a “coping mechanism” to deal with the problems we face. While it’s true that humor can be a great way to make light of a bad situation, dark humor can be harmful and sometimes lead to dire consequences.

As Suicide Prevention Awareness Month comes to a close, let’s be more mindful of the words, jokes, & one-liners we are putting out into the world. As someone with a goal of starting the conversation around mental health, I’m all for contributing to discussions about suicide & destigmatizing mental health. But, when we treat suicide as something to be joked about and mocked, we minimize the struggles of the millions of people who suffer from suicide ideation every day. And, we do victims of suicide & suicide attempts a disservice every time we pretend suicide is anything less than an utter tragedy.

Jokes about suicide can sometimes be a warning sign that someone is in need of help. However, the normalization of suicide-based dark humor makes it challenging to tell whether one is making a dark joke or is genuinely considering harming themselves.

The more someone is exposed to dark humor, the more likely it is that they may adopt that sort of negative thinking. And, when suicidal humor is posted on social media, it is very likely that it could be viewed by users too young to understand the joke’s implications.

I get it. It’s hard to let go of a type of humor that has become so mainstream. But when you remove the darker jokes from your repertoire, you’ll find that you view yourself & the world in a more positive light. Let’s be more mindful of our words, do away with the suicide-based dark humor, and start inserting a healthy dose of optimism into our one-liners instead.