Following the very recent death of the world’s most beloved comedian Robin Williams, who is suspected to have taken his own life it got me thinking about suicide in general.

How come in an age where it is so very easy to reach out to someone for help, do we still have way too many people taking their own lives?

Depression seems to be getting more common every day which is a scary statistic. We have an endless amount of medication to help those with said problem yet we still have too many people killing themselves. I don’t think there is one answer for why these problems are on the rise but I do know that social media definitely needs to take a large majority of the blame. Scroll down your facebook, twitter, instagram pages and you will find atleast one hateful comment. I don’t understand why people have to make nasty comments especially when it doesn’t concern them. I was taught, like many, that if you don’t have something nice to say, don’t say anything at all. It seems that that important lesson needs to be taught to everyone or atleast people need to be reminded of it. What do you achieve by saying something nasty? Those nasty little comments will stay with someone forever even after that person has forgotten that they said/written it. 

I don’t like to advertise it but I had depression when I was younger but now that I’m older it’s not the case any more. That doesn’t mean I won’t forget the hateful things people have said to me throughout my life. We can forgive but never forget. One of my “friends” in high school called me fat and to this day I can still tell you every single detail about that situation. From the time of day, the other girl’s reaction to it, the exact location and especially the tears I cried in the bathroom afterwards. I’m “friends” with that girl on facebook now and everytime I see something of hers pop up on my newsfeed I feel like telling her how much that comment hurt me and still hurts me. I want to tell those words will never leave me and when I feel down they work their way into my brain reminding me of the pain. This situation is, in my opinion, the perfect example of why suicide and depression is so common now.

Just the other day my husband was so excited about a car project he was creating that he uploaded the photos to a facebook community where he thought there were people who would appreciate his ideas. A few hours later he joined me in bed looking all forlorn. The young boy in his is devastated as though these people have ‘kicked over his sand castle instead of admiring it.’ Majority of the comments on his post were nasty, cruel and ridiculed everything about it. He ended up deleting the post but the damage was done. He was crushed and the project he was so very proud of didn’t seem as great any more. I’ve learnt to be smart in life because I was tired of the nastiness of so many people. I reminded him of my mantra – Head down tail up; don’t tell them show them. I told my husband to use it as incentive, as I have done with my writing. You must turn the negatives into positives, rise above the hurt and let it be the fuel to fire you toward your goals.

If I could tell all those with depression one message it would be that there IS light at the end of the tunnel. Life may seem impossible and the darkness may threaten to take away all that makes you happy but there will come a day where you will break through. Life always changes and one day you will look back and wish you could’ve known how wonderful the future will be.

It was only a few months into my relationship with my husband that I knew he was my light. I could handle the bad days without medication. He’s always been there to hold may hand on those days or let me have those moody moments but I know with him there, the darkness won’t last long. I wish I could tell my teenage self that my future holds beauties that are worth all the darkness. 

Depression is the warning sign that this person may need to be handled a little more gently, need a little extra love and a few compliments might go a long way. If you see someone in the street and like their hair/outfit/smile/even jewellery then say so. You never know how much that might change their lives.