Over my freshman year of college there were two suicides in the town. Although I'm not sure the ages of both, I do recall that one was only a young girl in middle school -- probably not even fourteen yet. Seeing these stories and reading the comments that friends, family, and even acquaintances make always breaks my heart. Not only because they always say how beautiful of a person they were, but also because they expose such a huge issue with our society. And no, the issue that I find is not the cliche "people only care when you're dead," although I do feel in some cases that can be true. The issue that I find so pressing is that the only time someone with a mental illness doesn't have a stigma stamped on their forehead is after they're already lying dead in a coffin.

I am someone who struggles with crippling anxiety mixed with severe depression and self-harm. I can personally tell you how society loves to tell us all we need to do is ask for help, while at the same time not really caring about how we truly feel -- or at least not until it's too late. Then they wonder why you didn't come to them in the first place, although you most likely tried to and were blown off.

Too often those who reach out are told their feelings are invalid. If you're depressed then you're selfish because someone always has it worse. If you vocalize your feelings, you're just complaining and need to get over yourself. If you self-harm, you're just looking for attention. If you attempt to let someone know you're suicidal then you're just being dramatic because "you won't actually do it." And to think that those are only some of the common stigmas thrown at those who are suffering.

However, as soon as you actually commit suicide, you transform from an attention-seeking complainer to a colossal tragedy. Posts will come flooding onto your social media about how ugly society is to have been blind to your struggles. But maybe it's time we realize that we are all a part of that ugly society. And, as a society, we conform to the dominant cultural perspectives on issues. However, if one is capable of conforming to those ideas, aren't they capable of challenging them?

You personally may not say those things or find truth in those stigmas, but by not challenging them you're allowing them to continue pulsating through societies ever-reaching veins. So I challenge you to stand up for what you believe in. Argue the validity of everyone's feelings, and dispute the stigmas when you hear them. You may only be one person, but in a society that loves to conform, one voice can lead to a movement.