Every day should be suicide prevention day. Every day should be a day when, if you see someone you think might be struggling, you take a moment to see what you can do. Every day should be a day when, if you are struggling, you take a deep breath and remind yourself that you deserve to feel better even if you don’t believe it and take the crucial first step of asking for help.
World Suicide Prevention day was September Tenth. In honor of that, let’s take a few moments to think, and talk, about something that, in my opinion, will never reach a point where it is talked about enough. College is hard. Life is hard. Brains are weird. They do things that no one comes even close to understanding. So when people have chemical imbalances in their brains, we don’t always know how to help them, and they don’t always know how to help themselves. What is happening is legitimate and real and nobody’s fault. It is also not forever. If you are struggling, tell yourself that until you believe it. Take time to recuperate if you need to. If your depression kicks in really badly one day, and you know that you will feel better if you get more sleep and take some time for yourself, email your professors. Tell them you are sick or not feeling well, and go into as much detail as you feel comfortable with. I cannot stress enough that mental illness is an illness. Do not feel like you are telling a lie or it is not a legitimate reason. If you find yourself never attending, that is a problem, but just like you’ve always been told to rest and take care of yourself when you start running a fever, or just like you know if you have a migraine you won’t get anything out of class anyway, take care of yourself so you can come back feeling well enough to work.
If you know someone who is struggling, be there and support them. If you don’t know how to help them, tell them as much and encourage them to seek someone who is trained to help. Do what you can but don’t try to take responsibility for things over your head or that are too much for you. Your job is to be a good friend, it is a mental health professional’s job to diagnose and treat. You are not being a bad friend by not knowing how to help them.
Rates of mental illness are reaching new heights. I don’t know whether that is because finally more people are seeking help and not ashamed or because our culture keeps making things tougher on our generation and if you watch the news you’ll see the world going to hell in a handbasket. What I know is that every day should be suicide prevention day, hug a friend who needs it day, ask for help day, self care day, hold on to hope day, and more.
Brains are weird. College is hard. But it is going to be okay.
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