September is National Suicide Awareness and Prevention Month. I want to take this opportunity to encourage you to consider the impact that can be made when we normalize saying something is wrong or encouraging someone to seek help. I often recall a comic strip a friend shared with me, where people responded to physical injuries like they would typically respond to mental health struggles. One character in the comic showed his friend his broken limb, and his friend responded with "have you tried not thinking about it?" This comic sparked an important question for me. If we wouldn't hesitate to encourage our friend seek medical help if they were physically ill, why don't we treat mental illness in the same way?
I understand that stigma around mental illness is very much present in our culture. Because of this there can be a certain level of "shame" in admitting there is something that hurts or needs attention. But again, would we be ashamed to say my broken foot hurts? Why as a society do we treat this differently? On a more positive note, we have most recently seen a shift in the younger generation taking more of a stand through social media and normalizing seeking help (kudos to our Gen-Z-ers). I really believe this will have a great impact for the future of mental health, because saying “I need help with my mental health” should be as acceptable as saying “I need help with my physical health.”
If you are feeling depressed or in distress, please remember you are not alone. It's important to bring awareness to the impact that normalizing this dialogue can make on someone’s life. Suicide awareness and prevention begin with speaking out about and listening to someone’s struggles. Sometimes the most difficult thing to do is to speak about our vulnerabilities. However, we also know this is the most important factor in building connections and a possible avenue to saving a life.
Having lost a dear friend to suicide, this initiative really hits home. I remember feeling very upset about not having had a clear understanding of the kind of pain they were going through before they passed. Depression, distress, mental illness, should not be so foreign to us. Perhaps it is because it may not make sense to us, that we need to learn more about it. I invite you to take this opportunity this month of September to get more familiar with mental illness, and together we can make a difference in diminishing suicide rates and increasing mental well-being.
To get you started here is a list of common signs of suicide to watch out:
Increased substance (alcohol or drug) use
Statements about having no reason for living or no sense of purpose in life
Experiencing anxiety, agitation, difficulty sleeping or sleeping all the time
Stating that they feel trapped or hopeless.
Withdrawal from friends, family and society
Rage, uncontrolled anger, seeking revenge
Acting reckless or engaging in risky activities, seemingly without thinking
Drastic mood changes
· Giving away possessions
· Tying up loose ends, like organizing personal papers or paying off debts
· Saying goodbye to friends and family
Here is a list of wonderful organizations that are active on this initiative:
Also the number to dial is 988. This is the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline
Lastly, here is the comic I was referring to in case you were curious:
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