AM Coffee Talk #24 - A Chat about Depression and Suicide

Jun 09, 2018

I feel like it's been forever since we had a true Saturday Morning Coffee sit down. I'm sorry to disappoint you but today's might not be exactly what you're looking for but it is something we all need to hear. I have struggled with finding a way to share information with y'all about depression and suicide without being too open and without turning people away, without opening myself up to criticism. I realize now that this isn't the time to be worried about what other people think.

Over the year that this blog has been live, I've written a total of 6 blog posts that deal with mental illness. Whether it's talking about my depression or anxiety, I always felt the need to share about things like mental illness on the blog because sometimes when you're dealing with those things the depths of the internet seem to be the safest place. When I heard about the passing of Kate Spade and the Anthony Bourdain just yesterday, I knew it was time to get a little more raw and real about mental illness.

Saturday Morning Coffee #24 - A Chat about Depression and Suicide

While I encourage everyone to have the National Suicide Prevention Hotline number in their phone contacts, just adding that into your phone and writing a sweet Facebook status about Kate Spade and/or Anthony Bourdain is not going to help anyone who is suffering from mental illness. We live in a world where we think that getting involved is as easy as writing something on social media and including a trending hashtag. Hate to break it to you, but it's not.

There is a huge stigma in this country about mental illness and that's why we are not only seeing the suicide rates rapidly increase but also why you see people like celebrities taking their own lives. I'll scream it until my lungs give out but depression and mental illnesses do not discriminate. They are ruthless and can affect anyone at any time. But for some reason, we see people that "have it all together" and think that there's no way they can actually be truly suffering.

You can help by having the Suicide Prevention Hotline in your phone. You can help by standing up against stereotypes and stigma. You can help by being a good friend. You can help by not ignoring the signs. You can help by checking in on that friend you haven't talked to in a few days. You can help. Period, bottom line, end of story.

We have to work together, all of us, to fight the rising suicide rates. We have to band together and put an end to the stigma surrounding mental illness and getting help for depression.

I know this isn't the normal SMC style post but I promised that I would use my little platform for this sort of things so here we go. If there are specific posts you would like to see related to anxiety and depression please let me know in the comments or in a DM on Instagram!