ATTENTION: As we try to come to terms with two more suicides of public figures…and those of us in mental health focus on intervening in the aftermath to prevent more… I am seeing wonderful tools, information and messages being put out to and for all of you. I JUST WANT TO ADD: I know for some of you, your pain is not apparent to anyone. You don’t ‘look’ depressed. You may not tell anyone how you are feeling. And you wear a really good ‘mask’. Therefore people don’t reach out. They assume all is well. And in your thinking they just don’t care.
PLEASE HEAR THIS MESSAGE: depression has a tone in your thoughts, and a message that is highly persuasive and convincing. But also quite untrue. The thoughts of depression may have some ‘truth’ in them, but completely exploits and maximizes the negative and minimizes the positive. “It” is a master manipulator of people, to the point where you cannot hear YOU, the real you. Those thoughts are coming out of symptoms you are having, not the person you are. I have heard the reasons people do not share with others, and especially those of you who are really good at the ‘mask’, and I would like to point out… If you were in a solo car accident, and were in an embankment and unable to get out, and people who could not see you or hear you on their own were driving, riding and walking by…you are likely to scream, yell and holler for help to get their attention. Honestly, it is the same thing-just in that moment your instincts kick in, and you are aware that people would be there for you if they heard you. Depression however, twists and contorts that instinct and knowledge. Keep in mind it is in our nature to yell for help to survive. We have the ability to deceive ourselves, and the symptoms of depression can add to that exponentially. This is why it is so important that someone in your life must be allowed to see behind the ‘mask’ and to know that you are laying in a ‘ditch’ somewhere dying and need help. Please hear that depression thoughts are persuasive-yes, but are not WHO YOU ARE, it is something you are experiencing and let people know so they can assist you in intervening. Going back to the car accident metaphor, the first person may not know what to do, but they can get you the help you need. So don’t just stop with the first person. This is your life we are talking about–and even if this doesn’t FEEL true-it DOES MATTER-YOU MATTER.
Below is a link I have used in a past post as a resource for all of us: https://www.speakingofsuicide.com/
