Good, I got your attention.
In light of today, world suicide prevention day (according
to IASP), I just wanted to take some time to talk about a topic that is
sometimes difficult to talk about. From my own experiences I know that suicide
can be an extremely difficult topic to tackle and an even more difficult one to
deal with. As most of you know I am a psychology major and for me mental health
awareness is an issue that is close to my heart. As I was crawling along on the
91 during our lovely So-Cal rush hour I was thinking about my own story and my
newfound views on the mental health industry, especially therapy.
I was never really a fan of therapy, and still wouldn’t call
myself a “fan,” but I would say that I have come to appreciate it and what it
is fighting for. The stigmas around mental illness, in all cultures and sub
cultures, are truly shameful. As Americans we talk a lot about freedom of this
and that but for the most part what we really mean is freedom within our
normality’s. Freedom to be and act “normal.” In order to live in society you
have to act like society.
This semester I started an internship at a state hospital and
have learned a ton about mental health and myself. What I have seen so far
ranges from major depression to schizophrenia and I am sure I still haven’t seen
the worst of it, but I have learned a whole lot. “Crazy” people aren’t “crazy,”
they’re sick! Not with a cold or cancer, but just as life alerting as either of
those can be. Some people will never be able to get better (this has been very
hard to witness) and some people can take some medicine and they’re good to go.
However, that’s not really the problem.
The problem is in the way we treat this sickness. If our
friend has a cold we tell them to drink fluids and get rest but when a friend
says they’re depressed or anxious, often times, we don’t know what to say. It’s
not our fault that we react like this though. To a certain extent it may be but
we were never educated on the topic of mental illness. No one ever told us
about depression, anxiety, or agoraphobia and suicide as a result of many
mental illnesses was rarely, if at all, talked about. Sure it may have been in
an assembly or two, maybe it was an announcement at school today, maybe you saw
someone with a ribbon tied on their wrist or pinned to their shirt, but our
education systems are not education. The people that know the most are the
people going through it and that really shouldn’t be the case, because for they
most part they won’t say a word. They will break eye contact and look at the
ground in hopes that the gut-wrenching feeling will go away when their secret comes
up. We don’t want anyone knowing that we’re “sick” and we get terrified if
anyone even gets close to figuring it out.
Who are we to make others feel this way? We all are sufferers!
We are all facing different demons and are all dealing with them differently,
but worst of all most of us are facing it alone, or at least that’s how we feel/think.
If you don’t take anything from this post at least take this: you’re not alone.
I know it’s cliché and believe me when I say I hate what I’m about to say. It
gets better and in time you’ll get through it. It wont be quick and it sure as
hell wont be easy, and more likely then not you’ll never be at the same level
as you were before you’re mental illness. That said, it doesn’t mean you can
never get back to a place where you are happy, calm, and safe. I wish someone
had told me this a few years back because I wouldn’t have wasted so much time
trying to get back to where I was.
Lastly I just want to add that we, as a society, need to
work on destroying this stigma surrounding mental illness. Illness is illness!
Whether it is physical or mental illness. We shouldn’t ignore one while
coddling the other. Just like physical illness mental illness takes time to
heal, takes patience from others and ourselves, and most importantly requires
nurturing from others and ourselves. Suicide is not a first response! It’s a
desperate act, a last resort for some one that is feeling so emotionally
overwhelmed that they can’t even think clearly. No one that is willingly about
to take their own life is in their right mind, and there are signs to notice
when someone is getting sick. Just like coughing and sneezing foreshadow a
cold, isolation and lack of energy foreshadow depression. Suicide is 100%
preventable! Educate yourself, know the signs, and talk to your friends and
family. Together we will start to break the stigma surrounding mental illness.
Suicide helpline: 1(800)
273-8255
