Taimi Founder Publishes ‘World Suicide Prevention Day’ Blog Post

Taimi co-founder and COO Jake Vygnan published a blog article on World Suicide Prevention Day to cover the mental health and wellness issues that excessively affect the LGBTQ community.

World Suicide Prevention Day is marked annually on 10th September in an effort to restrict the rising number of suicides. It is a joint effort between the World Health Organisation, World Federation for Mental Health and the International Association for Suicide Prevention.

In his post, Vygnan noted that over 700,000 people around the world take their lives each year, one every forty seconds.

He explained: “In today’s world, I believe there are many reasons why we need to talk about suicide prevention. Not only because one in every 100 people will die as the result of suicide, but because it is also one of the leading causes of death among young LBGTQ+ people.

“I know first-hand what it’s like to see someone close to me fight with unaddressed mental health struggles. So, I’ve made it my personal mission to start the conversation around mental health not only during national suicide prevention month, but on a daily basis.”

Suicide is the leading cause of death among LGBTQ youth, who are approximately 3.5 times more likely to attempt suicide than heterosexual individuals. Furthermore, 40% of transgender adults have attempted to take their own lives.

Taimi was initially launched as a dating app for gay men, but it has since expanded its services to be a safe social networking space for anyone who identifies as LGBTQ.

The support staff are reportedly trained to deal with various mental health issues and Vygnan says the team have received several thank you letters from people who were suffering.

At the start of Pride Month, Taimi made a $25,000 donation to ‘The Trevor Project’, an organisation that specialises in crisis intervention for LGBTQ individuals.

Read the full blog post here.