Approximately one million people commit suicide each year worldwide, about one death every 40 seconds or 3,000 a day. For each person that takes their own life, at least 20 attempt to. In 2015, suicide the second leading cause of death for people aged 15 to 24 and the third leading cause of death for people aged 10 to 14. Can you imagine being 10 years old and be so depressed that you wanted to take your own life? Some of these children are believed to have taken their lives because of bullying. A friend of mine's daughter committed suicide at age 15 because of bullying. These cases are never talked about. We only pay attention to suicide when it's someone famous. We only talk about depression and self harm when a famous person is depressed or self harming themselves. There is a fear in people that causes them to not want to speak out about what they are going through. Afraid someone will judge them, afraid no one will care, afraid they'll get a negative reaction from their loved ones. It takes a lot for someone suffering from a mental illness like depression, self harm, or suicidal thoughts to speak up about it, so when they do and they get a negative reaction to it, it makes them never want to talk about it again. I self harmed for years, I was depressed, I had suicidal thoughts all the time. I was scared to tell anyone. I didn't know how they would react. I was afraid they'd judge me rather than help me. I got lucky, my mom was there for me, my friends were there for me, even my father was there for me (and that's rare). Some people aren't as lucky as I am. Their parents and/or their friends don't understand and sometimes they end up making it worse. We need to be there for people when they reach out, when they ask for help. I never asked for help, but I got help because someone noticed and said something. They saw the burns on my wrists and knew something wasn't right. Imagine all the people we could help if we were more open about this topic. Imagine how many lives we could save. I know I bring this topic up a lot, but that's because I think if I'm open about it, I will encourage other people to be open about it, too. I want to help. I don't want people to be afraid to talk to me. I want us to talk about these things more. No one should have to suffer alone. I did for a long time and it only made things worse. I've been self harm free for about 4 or 5 years. I have been off my anti-depressants for 7 months. I can't even remember the last time I had a suicidal thought. I made it out alive and I want other people to, too. I've said it before, but I'll say it again. Be f**king kind to one another. You don't know what anyone is going through, what they're suffering from, what kind of demons they've got holding them back. And if you're the kind of person that makes fun of a homeless person when they talk to themselves, please unfollow me and go think about your life decisions. A lot of those people are mentally ill and maybe they're mentally ill because they did too many drugs, but that doesn't matter. You shouldn't be making fun of them, calling them names, or laughing in their faces. And I know some of them think they're living the life, which is fine, let them, but you still don't need to make fun of them. I see this happen so often and it drives me nuts. How would you feel if you had a mental illness, but you couldn't afford help and you had no family, so you were forced to leave on the streets? Not very good, and probably even worse if you watched people make fun of you all day. This world is so cruel and it's not easy to live with the tragedy we've all been through. The least we can do is be kind to one another. Help someone when they need it. Be that shoulder they can cry on. Lay in bed with them all day because they're too depressed to get out of it. Be a friend. And never, ever judge them. I used to be a very judgmental person when I was a teenager and I hate myself for it. I still find myself being a little judgey at times, but I have never and will never judge someone for how they deal with their pain. "I kissed the scars on her skin. I still think you're beautiful and I don't ever want to lose my best friend".
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Maddie Lang
Dreamer. Adventurer. Wallflower. Lover. Fighter. Kentuckian / Californian. Finding my purpose in the world. Archives
February 2020
Categories |