Psalm 61:2: "When my heart is overwhelmed, lead me to the rock that is higher than I."
September is a busy month. We celebrate the beginning of Fall. We honor and mourn the lives of the people we lost on 9/11. The best sport in the world starts back up (it's football if you didn't know, and Go Giants!). There's just so many things to celebrate, but what a lot of people don't know is, September 10th is National Suicide Awareness Day, September 5th through 11th is National Suicide Awareness Week, and that is SO important.
Mental health is a taboo subject. It makes people uncomfortable. But the things that make our society uncomfortable is what needs to be heard. Why is that taking care of your physical appearance more important than your mental health? Why can people understand the importance of a broken leg or cancer, but they can't understand the overwhelming feeling of being clinically depressed or bipolar? Mental illness and mental wellness are topics that need to have so much light shed on them. Here's something that I'm not ashamed to say, I was diagnosed with Major Depressive Disorder on May 2nd, and my life has changed ever since. I began to believe I was broken, that my depression had somehow made me inferior and weaker than the people around me. I began to let so much negativity take over my life. I wasn't happy. I couldn't eat. I spent my time in bed all day, and I felt like I deserved everything that was happening to me. I began to self harm. A lot. Unless you've experienced a mental illness, you cannot comment on one. My self harm was a way of channeling my inner pain to something else. My senior year of high school and my freshman year of college, I was suicidal. It weighed heavily on my mind, day in and day out. I was in therapy every week to chase these thoughts away. How can you save yourself when there are people out there who don't think you're worthy of being saved? Or your illness isn't "real"?
Death by suicide takes over 800,000 lives a year. And 25 times that number are people who have attempted. There are so many people in this world who have been effected by suicide, have lost a loved one, or is even contemplating it themselves, and you may have NO idea. Start talking about mental health! The subject is so taboo because it makes people uncomfortable. I have been told that my depression isn't real and "to get over it." Well, just getting over depression isn't possible, it takes time and therapy and medicine, just like any other illness out there. People are so afraid of opening up about the things that make them feel depressed, because people tell them that "they're just sad," or "to stop whining." There are also people out there who view suicide as a selfish thing. They victim blame suicide victims, when they have no idea what someone is going through. To live is an act of courage. No one commits suicide because they don't want to live, they just want the indescribable pain to end.
Showing someone you love and care for them is important in this day and age, where our generation feels that as if being open and loving is a sign of weakness. Being loving and empathetic and kind is actually one of the strongest things you can be. If you start to recognize signs in yourself or a loved one that may be leading towards any signs of depression or any type of mental illness, TALK ABOUT IT. When something is treated as a stigma, it's more difficult to prevent. As a society, it's time to educate ourselves, stop judging the suicidal and mentally ill, and put more resources to prevent these things from happening. And most importantly, it's time to start talking, start being more empathetic, and it's time to let people know that suicide isn't the only option.
If you know of someone who needs help, even if that someone is you, PLEASE reach out to me, and I will be more than happy to talk you.
Suicide prevention hotline: tel:18002738255. It's open 24/7; you are never alone.
