With the recent suicides of Kate Spade, an American fashion designer, and Anthony Bourdain, an American celebrity chef, mental health has been placed on a whole new perspective. Mental health does not just affect disadvantaged communities, it affects all people, regardless of their race, status, and/or gender. While any person's death, regardless of their status, is important, it should not take the suicides of two high profile people for us to now just start talking about mental health and "caring" about it.
Following the suicides of both Kate and Anthony, I saw countless of A-list celebrities and even some close friends posting national suicide prevention numbers and trying to raise awareness for such a crisis. Speaking from someone that has struggled with mental health issues, tweeting a suicide prevention number really does not help. I, as well as a million other people suffering from mental health, can simply Google a national hotline number and call it. It really is that easy.
What I think people do not understand is that sometimes the more or less "cure" to this mental health crisis we are encountering is just being kind to everyone and listening. Speaking from personal experience, once you start talking to people about your problems, they will tell you to go to counseling, as if one had the time or money to do so, they will tell you to take this number and get help, or to just take antidepressants.
While these methods are effective and should not necessarily be undermined, I think just listening and caring for others really does make a difference.
If you do want to stop this mental health crisis, then join me in this endeavor.
Now, this is what you need to do. You need to stop saying you care about such issues and actually do something about it. You need to start being more friendly to people and not ignore them while they are trying to talk to you about their problems. You need to say "hello" to that quiet girl or boy that never talks and maybe offer to hangout with them sometime. You need to stop judging people for being too "emotional" or for not meeting society's standards of what is "beautiful." You need to stop thinking about mental health as a contagious disease because it's not. You need to understand that people do not choose to be depressed or anxious, and that some things are just beyond one's control. Lastly, you just need to be kind and love others no matter what.