When thinking of suicide awareness, a lot of different things come to peoples mind. Majorly, because suicide awareness looks differently for everyone. For some, suicide awareness is something they had to grow into. After silently struggling with suicidal ideation for most of my adolescence, speaking up about suicide awareness has been a journey, and something that has not always been the most comfortable. Now that I am on the other side, it is extremely important to me to speak up for others and share the little things that helped me stick around, because sometimes, it really is the simple things that help you keep pushing through another day.
Knowing when to go to bed.
For the majority of my academic career, I have taken advanced classes, above average number of units, and tied a lot of my self worth to the grades I was getting. When struggling with your mental health, academic stress can feel like another weight on your shoulders. When I was struggling—even when I had homework, studying or other assignments—I didn’t allow myself to stay up too late. Sometimes, that meant going to bed early and waking up earlier in the morning to finish my assignments. Feelings of sadness and hopelessness can be greatly exasperated by lack of sleep. On days that just felt like too much, I tried to get the absolute necessities done, and then went to bed. I followed this by communicating with my teachers about the situation. It will surprise you how empathic and understanding people can be when you let them in on a glimpse of what you’re going through.
Keeping a private journal
Keeping a completely private journal was something that really helped. Writing down the things that I felt I couldn’t talk about with my family and friends, as well as entries in between appointments with my therapist made things less overwhelming. Putting your feelings into words releases them into the universe and allows the thoughts and corresponding feelings to transfer from your brain to the page. This isn’t saying that journaling will immediately make everything magically better, but a consistent effort to get all of your thoughts out, even the ones you are ashamed of or don’t want to say out loud, can create a healthy habit that helps lower stress over time.
Religiously scrolling pinterest
When dealing with suicidal ideation, its common to want to live a life different than your own. When feeling like this, it was comforting to scroll on Pinterest and create vision boards. Not only does it act as a way to escape from reality, it helped me create tangible goals that I wanted to work towards. For example, saving photos of nature, beautiful landscapes, fun journaling prompts, and yummy food ideas gave me things to look forward to, activities to do, and boards to come back and look at when I needed a little energy booster.
Utilize mental health services and treatment
Accessing mental health services is extremely stigmatized, which can feel isolating and shameful. Especially for teenage and college age women, we are often told that our mental health struggles are just due to “hormones” or “stress”. This sentiment is harmful, and a direct cause of why a lot of women feel ashamed and unheard when seeking mental health services. Struggling with suicidal ideation is a serious matter. It was beneficial for me to be treated by a licensed MFT, who then helped connect me with doctors and other mental health providers. There is no shame in seeking help from a provider or taking medications. For many women, including myself, medications were life-saving treatments provided by their care team.
There is no shame in struggling with your mental health. There is power in speaking up about your struggles and advocating for others. September has always held a special place in my heart, and I hope it does for you too now.