Nothing is scarier than almost losing a friend to mental health
It’s a bigger thing than people realize
Just because you can’t see it, doesn’t mean it’s not there
There’s a reason it’s “the invisible illness”
It comes in all shapes and sizes.
Anxiety. Depression. Eating disorders. Personality disorders. Dissociative disorders. PTSD. OCD. ADHD. Bipolar. Schizophrenia.
And not everyone can seek out the help they need because they feel restricted by their illness or they can’t afford “professional” help
It’s why friends are so important! Why it’s so important to be a friend. Why friendship is a gift meant to be shared
You might not realize it, but you’re lifting someone’s spirits with even the smallest of gestures or words
You might not even know but you’re someone’s rock and you’re helping them to stay afloat, covering them something to hold on to to keep from drowning
You won’t ever know but you’re giving them a reason to keep going
Friends are going to be there for you through thick and thin! They won’t let you drown.
Most schools don’t cover mental well-being or mental health or mental illness. Instead:
“You don’t need meds. They’re bad for your health.”
“Take a break from schoolwork” - even though they tell you that you should be focusing on schoolwork and revision 24/7 with no breaks
“Hang out with your friends”
“Go and see the school counselor instead of going on meds” “Go and see the school counselor of you’re worried” - even though the ‘school counselor’ charges you per session
“You’re not an anxious person”
“I know people who suffer from anxiety/insomnia/sleep deprivation and you aren’t one of them”
“That’s no reason to not focus”
“It’s not my fault you didn’t sleep” - when said teacher wanted me to rewrite over 100 pages of coursework in two days because I had “copy and pasted everything” when I hadn’t
And that was a heath and social care teacher and teachers supposed to be there to support 16-18 year olds.
Sociology: “if you do the homework, great! If not, don’t worry about it, okay? Only do it you have time and feel like you can manage it.” - they gave me space and time and support
English: they know what’s up. “This situation isn’t good for your mental health or your physical health. You’re clearly worked up over it, and it’s obvious that you’ve not been taking care of yourself because of it” - because English and Sociology were both on at the same time every lesson, so I could attend one or the other at one time. I missed more than half of each subject. •-my English teacher when I went to talk to her about why I was failing her class and never there, and I was in near tears- “Please don’t go away from here thinking I’m angry or annoyed at you. I’m pissed off at...”[senior management] •-when talking to my teacher (who also suffered from anxiety) 20 minutes before the exam- “so sociology didn’t go well. Don’t stress on it. Do you have any methods for keeping calm and level headed in exams?”-nope-“Okay well for me personally, I go over the timestable in my head because I struggle with it. It gives me something to focus on and makes it easier to remain calm. But honestly you can do the same with anything. Um, oh! Try alphabetically listing the countries, or the US states, or cities” —— not gonna lie, this advice was and is a lifesaver
I was lucky to have my English teachers but I know not everyone is lucky enough to have teachers like this.
September is SUICIDE PREVENTION MONTH
Of course so is every other month because suicide doesn’t stop after September.
Around 800,000 lives are lost each year to suicide, GLOBALLY
That’s a life lost every 40 seconds
And on top of this, it’s suspected that for every one life lost, more than 20 people may have been attempting suicide
It’s a hell of a punch in the gut, right?
DID YOU KNOW? As of 2018:
And even so, suicide and depression are still taboo subjects.
We should be able to talk about this. We should be able to recognize the signs. We should be aware of the ripple effect it has. We should be taught about it in schools.
There’s a passage from a book I love, called ‘The Song of Achilles’ that honestly speaks volumes.
Spread the word, spread awareness. Spread love. Spread friendship. Be there for people you don’t even know because an act of kindness really can save lives.
