The month of September is recognized as "National Suicide Prevention Month" with prevention week being the 8th through 14th.
Prevention.... what does this word mean? Merriam-Webster defines it as "to keep from happening or existing" and "to hold or keep back". I am absolutely an advocate for suicide prevention and for all the hard work that various mental health non-profits do, but I do think there are times where suicide prevention is over-simplified. I've seen some articles and pages out there that in so many words give a step by step way to help prevent suicide. I know their intentions are good, but it is not that easy. A + B does not always = C, and in most situations, it isn't absolute and doesn't follow a certain sequence of events.
My personal opinion of the best way to help prevent suicide is to start with breaking the stigma that is attached to mental illness and suicide. A few months ago, I was talking with Kim McDevitt, the director of MHA Lancaster, and she shared with me a statistic that she heard at a conference - the number of deaths by suicide is higher than the number of deaths by AIDS related illness (In the United States). This isn't doesn't seem that earth-shattering in the year 2019, but if you have read anything or were alive when AIDS was first discovered and diagnosed, it had an incredibly high mortality rate. It also had a huge stigma attached to it. Since the general population didn't know what caused the illness, how it was spread, etc., they incorrectly believed that the majority of those affected by AIDS were gay, drug users, promiscuous or did something to "deserve" it. In the decades since, so many resources have been poured into research, education and treatments. While there is officially no formal cure, advances in our understanding of the disease have made it possible to still live a long healthy life (In the US... I know there is still a huge problem with AIDS in Africa).
The reason this was brought up at the conference that Kim attended was to make the point that if we as a country put all those same efforts into mental illness, could we eventually lower the number of deaths by suicide? It's an interesting question and there are probably many sound arguments for both sides. Obviously they are extremely different illnesses, but it is a valid question to ask. I think that one of the biggest problems we face regarding mental health is that we are generally poorly educated about it and people fear what they don't know. Think about the stigma surrounding AIDS - how did we combat that? There was extensive research done about the illness, what causes it, how it is spread, and what can be done to combat and contain it. I'm sure there are still asshole people out there who believe the original BS about AIDS, but in general, I would venture to say that the stigma is pretty much gone.
What if we could get rid of the stigma surrounding mental health? What if we helped people understand that mental illness doesn't discriminate and it can affect any gender, age, race? Most importantly, what if we could help people realize that it is okay to talk about what they are struggling with and it is not weak to seek help? The reason I do what I do with the golf tournament is that I want to help mental health to not be such a scary topic. I hope that by holding this event and not hiding what my dad struggled with, that I can show others that suicide/mental illness can affect any family, and the best way to honor someone you know who has taken their life or who is going through mental illness is to try to help others.
#mentalhealth #mentalhealthawareness #mentalhealthmonth #endthestigma #suicideprevention #1in4 #mentalhealthblogger #mentalhealthblog #mhbloggers #mhblogger #mhblog #depression #depressionawareness #depressionrecovery #depressionsucks #suicideawareness #yourstoryisnotover #anxiety #anxietyhelp #selfware #selfcarematters #selfcarefrst #selflove #stopthestigma #breakthestigma #stigmafree #wellnesswarrior #mentalhealthmatters #mentalhealthsupport #mentalillness #introvert #introverts #isfj #mbti #introvertproblems #introvertlife #introverted #introverting #rbf #balance #introverthangover #wellness #calm #introvertissues #introvertsbelike #interovertedlife #solitude #selfcare #peace #suicidepreventionmonth #suicidesurvivor
Comments