One of the common struggles for me is the feeling I have that no matter how happy I am right now, I’m inevitably going to do something eventually to screw it up and lose that happiness. That no matter how much someone loves me, I’m always “this” far away from not having it any longer. I suppose it’s a learned behavior from years of not being happy, or being disappointed by people, but how do you change what is, essentially, a feeling?
Is there anything more sad than watching someone suffering from depression and being unable to see their own talents and skills? Someone who’s view of themselves is so low that they don’t even try anymore because they can’t see themselves being successful at anything. Or is it just me, looking back, knowing that I’ve been…
Pin One of my pet peeves, among many, are articles written as though fixing everything about life is as simple as getting outside more, or eating this one thing, or stating that a study shows something that really, maybe it doesn’t. For example, the studies about screen time, or social media use, which seem to be…
I made an interesting realization last night. It has alot to do with what’s been giving me headaches and making me feel sick and just generally making me feel unmotivated. I think it’s my own little bizarre form of Seasonal Affectation Disorder. You see, our winters have been pretty mild, up until this year, and…
How to help someone with a mental health concern. I especially agree with the first rule, “Offer your Friendship and Support”. You’d be surprised how effective you can be just by being available to listen. It may not seem like much, but it is so infrequent that someone actually takes the time to really stop…
Pin It was the stories. It was all of those people doing this in memory of someone they lost. Or, like me, in memory of the fact that we are still here instead of leaving others to tell our stories. In our day to day lives, it’s too easy to forget how many people are impacted by suicide each and every year across the country, and the world. The further in time I get away from that time in my own life, the easier it can be to put it behind me and forget about it. But, that is something I never want to do. As painful as it is, I want to remember what it was like to no longer want to be alive. When someone is in that place, I want to be able to say, “I’ve been where you are”, to recall all of the details, and be able to sit and understand. Because that is how we save people. Not by talking in hushed tones about depression, or mental illness, but by sharing the stories of people who survived and healed, and of those we’ve lost.
Let’s face it, if you spend much time considering those losses, and listening to those stories, it is impossible to walk away without realizing that we have lost a devastating number of people to this disease. Many more than some of the diseases we all gladly talk openly about every day. Yet somehow, maybe because we don’t understand it, or are afraid of it, we keep silent. After all, it might make someone uncomfortable. Even I have, at times, kept the details to myself in fear of making other people uncomfortable, or risk having them worry about me. The more I read and heard these stories though, the more I realized that I needed to share my story, if only so that anyone who reads it would know, and maybe even understand a little bit, what it’s like to be so far down into the darkness of depression, that you don’t want to live any longer. So, with that said, let me share my experience with you, now that it’s been some 25 years, and maybe now people won’t worry so much about me. (Warning, this is about to get dark, and we will talk a bit about suicide, though I will keep those exact details out)
According to a recent study, many of them do. About half, in fact agreed with this statement: “With just Bible study and prayer, ALONE, people with serious mental illness like depression, bipolar disorder, and schizophrenia could overcome mental illness.” Now, I hesitate to quote from any study like this and use it to pass judgement…
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