Depression seems to be more and more of a fad every single day. Having anxiety is "cool".
I will be the first to tell you, nothing about depression and anxiety will ever be glamourous. Let me paint a picture for you:
It's 1 am, you're alone in your bedroom, lights off, laying in the fetal position in your bed. You're crying but you have no idea why. You're shaking and trembling because you're afraid of your own mind. You don't know what caused this and the only thought your mind can think is "please let this stop". The voice inside your head seems to be screeching, "you're not worth this, you'll never be worth this life."
90 percent of suicides happen because of a mental illness. Whether that is depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder, etc. NINTY PERCENT. It is the 10th leading cause of death in the United States alone. 45,000 people take their own lives every year, but you aren't here for the statistics, you're here to hear why suicide changed my life.
Nearly two years ago, suicide happened in my hometown. One of my best friends. I was taught five things by this.
Number One: People run away from the word 'suicide'. Everyone tries to avoid it. It is always "you know, when he um...," or "I can't believe he did that". I think it's about time that people every where start using the correct term for it, not an 'um' or 'that'. My friend committed suicide.
Number Two: People still think that mental illness and suicide is a joke. Not long after this suicide happened in my community an organization came to my school doing an assembly about suicide and mental illness. (what a coincidence, right?) As I sat through this production and I tried to interact with it, I listened around to the people around me and I was stunned because probably 75% of the people around me weren't paying any attention and if they were they were making some of the most ridiculous comments to each other about suicide. Some people even making comments to their friends saying "go kill yourself". Telling someone to go kill themselves will never, ever be a joke nor funny. You never know if the person you say that to is dealing with something deeper than their skin, consider that next time.
Number Three: Social media is awful. I'm guilty of using it. I think almost anyone is. These days you don't find many people who don't use it, but here's the thing, no one uses it to do good. All you see on Facebook is people complaining. Twitter is full of people bashing eachother, and Instagram is a made up world of perfect people. Social media can ruin a persons life. Through pictures, posts, and instant messages, that stuff can get to a persons head.
Number Four: Never assume anything. Never think that someone has it all together. Never think that a Christian has everything figured out. Never believe that some people don't have anything bad in their lives. You never actually know what a person is going through. Whether it's at home, school, church, work, etc, everyone is always dealing with something. Be kind to others, please.
Number Five: Never underestimate the power of a hug. Whether it's a quick one or a 10 minute hug, no matter what the situation, a hug can help so much. Show each other you love each other or care for each other.
Moral of the story, anyone can be hurting or down. Anyone can be suicidal. You never know, so please take away these things: don't joke about people killing themselves or yourself killing you. Hug always.
Spread love, not hate.
