If you haven't yet heard, Scott Mescudi, better known as Kid Cudi, has checked into a mental health hospital for suicidal thoughts and depression. If you have not seen his Facebook post concerning it, I recommend you go read it before you continue reading this article.
For fans of his, it may not be such a surprise. Even when happy and upbeat, his music has always had melancholy themes implying deeper problems. Mr. Mescudi is proof of the devastating tendencies of mental illness. Mr. Mescudi is quite famous and wealthy, having achieved a very successful musical career--but the sad truth is that mental illness does not care. Depression does not care who you are or what you have achieved. You as an individual may have zero realistic reasons to be sad, and even if you are on the top of the world, depression does not care.
I suffer from mental illness. Of what kind I am unsure, for I am too afraid/proud/ashamed/whatever to seek help. I would guess depression and anxiety for sure. I have worried about the most outlandish things as long as I can remember and talking to new people puts me in an extreme panic. I truly believe the best advice someone can give is advice they are personally unwilling to take. In this framing, my advice is to not be ashamed of your mental shortcomings. None of us are "normal", it is merely an idea which none of us will ever meet. Throughout Kid Cudi's post he speaks of being ashamed of letting his fans down, but anyone who truly loves you will support you in a time of need.
There exists a serious stigma pertaining to mental illness. Nobody wants to openly talk about it. Too often mental illness goes undiagnosed, another "spontaneous" suicide that nobody expected. Until we as a society are comfortable openly discussing mental illness, we cannot strive to minimize the damage. Those who know they suffer from such illnesses often feel too ashamed to seek help, feeling as if they are broken. We must show each other how common mental illness is if we are to truly strive to help those in need.
I am no expert on any of these issues. I am an underachieving English major. All I know is we must support, help, and love each other unconditionally. This is an ideal to strive for more so than something we can all do. Every individual is flawed; we all disappoint each other daily and we achieve much less than we are capable of. However, every single one of us is just as clueless as the next. To admit this is to admit that you must help your fellow man, for we have nothing more in this life than the connections we make. Love one another.
