Hope

A friend called me last night. He was considering committing suicide. I called my mum and talked to friends who were nearby, somebody, anybody who could help.

I had my mum come and pick me up from university an hour and a half away. I had a call on the way home that he had gone home and was safe, as safe as a suicidal person can be at least.

 Today I saw him. I tried to talk to him. I tried to get him to listen, to know that it will get better. I tried the softy-softy-touchy-feely approach. That didn't work. I tried the tough guy approach. That didn't work. In the end we gave up on the convosation and moved on to just trying to do some thing to try and distract him. He told me he won't kill himself, but he feels alone.

 He can't talk to his parents, they didn't even want him to have psychological evaluations or to take his medication for his depression. I think they may be worried about the stigma attached to mental health issues, or maybe they just don't want people to think that they are bad parents? After all, a good parent has a happy child don't they?

 The thing is mental illness is not any bodies fault. Sometimes shit just happens and when it keeps happening to you it is easy to feel depressed. Depression can be caused by a simple chemical imbalance in the brain. The fact is mental illness happens.

People can think that if you have a mental illness you are crazy, you are different and in a small minority of people who you should avoid. If you think that then think about this, I once heard a statistic, 1 in 5 people have dandruff, 1 in 4 have depression. Mental illness is a common occurrence. In fact you may even have a mental health issue and not even realised it. I know it took me a long time to discover that I actually had depression. I actually didn't bring my suspicions up with my doctor until I was at the point of being terrified of harming myself.

 So, if you have depression or feel suicidal just stop and realise that there is help out there to be had. If family doesn't understand see your doctor, go to councilling, get in touch with your faith if you follow a religion. Also, remember that if you need help now, or any of the above suggestions don't work, call Samaritons. They are there to listen and to get you the help you need.

 Above all remember that even if it doesn't feel like it, there is always somebody out there who cares about you. If you go out and look for help, just tell somebody how you feel, you have made the first step. Once you make the first step, things will get better.


I hope this post is helpful to anyone suffering from depression or if you know somebody who is suffering. If you need help or further information please check out these numbers and web addresses for the Samaritans.

http://www.samaritans.org/
Tel: 08457 90 90 90 (UK)
Tel: 1850 60 90 90 (ROI)