Today I heard the
horrific news of the loss of another young soul to suicide. I was deeply
saddened even though I did not know this young lady. Within seconds of hearing the news, the events
of last year were revisited in my mind and my heart was squeezed tight with
overwhelming sorrow. The young lady who took her own life was not a friend of
Shahdi but they shared many mutual friends. When I learned she had left an
infant and a toddler behind, my immediate thought went to the two, now motherless, innocent children. Their chances to leading a happy, normal, and fulfilling
life were compromised greatly by their mother’s devastating action. A mother, who
would contemplate suicide and finally execute it successfully, was obviously
not of the right mind and must have suffered from mental illness, probably
depression.
The loss of this young
mother reinforced my strong belief in the inadequacy of the available medical treatments
for mental illness. Depression is killing the young and not much is being done
about it. There must be a lot more research on the human brain and how to
prevent mental illness in children and adults before it is too late.
Mental illness is more
prevalent in our society than we think. I did not realize it until after Shahdi’s
passing when many closeted, direct or indirect, sufferers of mental illness confided in me and
shared their struggles with mental health issues with me. I was surprised to find
them amongst my colleagues, friends, relatives, neighbors, and acquaintances. I was told about a few completed suicides,
attempted suicides, and daily battles with depression and bipolar disorder. However,
I was pleasantly surprised to find so many of them leading successful lives
despite their mental health issues.
I would like to
encourage all the young people who are reading this passage to not lose hope
and to strongly believe in themselves and their own abilities to get better. The
middle-aged sufferers, who shared their stories with me, are testimony that it
is possible to live a normal life with certain types of mental illness, such as
depression, anxiety and bipolar disorder. There are some effective treatments
which work for many people. Most of them had to try several different treatment
options to find the one which worked for them. Thus, I hope the young readers
would not lose faith in their own abilities to take their mental health problems
under control. I hope they seek
different doctors and therapists until they find one who can help them.
Please do not give up
on life no matter how difficult it might feel at times. As long as there is
life, there is hope. Don’t forget that.
No more suicides please.
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