"I want to die." My best friend told me, completely serious.
My first thought was "why?" Why would someone so beautiful, intelligent, and talented want to die? I asked her if she had been bullied, if school was stressing her out, or if she was having any problems in her family, the answer was no to each of these questions. She told me she was simply depressed, but that lately it had gotten so bad that she tried to kill herself the other night by overdosing on pills. I was scared, unsure of what to say, I just told her not to worry, that her depression would pass. During the day I tried avoiding her out of fear of saying something that would make her depression worse, and at night I would cry myself to sleep. I simply did not understand what depression was. Once I started talking to her again, I got frustrated. Why couldn't she snap out of it? Everyone has bad days.
What I didn't realize was that I was stigmatizing her. It is an issue that I faced on day-to-day basis. I didn't mean to alienate her, but I had no way of coping with her illness because I did not understand it. I badly wanted to help but I had no way of doing so I slowly grew distant from her. It was out of my control, and seemingly out of hers, so I found myself gradually pushing her away.
This issue is significant to not only me, but to our whole generation. In generations past, people with mental illnesses were often cast aside and stigmatized because they were not understood. It is important that we lend our hands to these people and help them because they are not their illness. People who are depressed are not always moody or suicidal, and it's important for others to see past this image that society has given depression. My failure to comprehend her led me to cast her aside, cutting off all support and help. I feel like my generation has not gotten educated enough about mental illnesses, and we tend to avoid them.
*Any comments/edits are greatly appreciated!
*Please tell me how I should end this essay. Thank you!
My first thought was "why?" Why would someone so beautiful, intelligent, and talented want to die? I asked her if she had been bullied, if school was stressing her out, or if she was having any problems in her family, the answer was no to each of these questions. She told me she was simply depressed, but that lately it had gotten so bad that she tried to kill herself the other night by overdosing on pills. I was scared, unsure of what to say, I just told her not to worry, that her depression would pass. During the day I tried avoiding her out of fear of saying something that would make her depression worse, and at night I would cry myself to sleep. I simply did not understand what depression was. Once I started talking to her again, I got frustrated. Why couldn't she snap out of it? Everyone has bad days.
What I didn't realize was that I was stigmatizing her. It is an issue that I faced on day-to-day basis. I didn't mean to alienate her, but I had no way of coping with her illness because I did not understand it. I badly wanted to help but I had no way of doing so I slowly grew distant from her. It was out of my control, and seemingly out of hers, so I found myself gradually pushing her away.
This issue is significant to not only me, but to our whole generation. In generations past, people with mental illnesses were often cast aside and stigmatized because they were not understood. It is important that we lend our hands to these people and help them because they are not their illness. People who are depressed are not always moody or suicidal, and it's important for others to see past this image that society has given depression. My failure to comprehend her led me to cast her aside, cutting off all support and help. I feel like my generation has not gotten educated enough about mental illnesses, and we tend to avoid them.
*Any comments/edits are greatly appreciated!
*Please tell me how I should end this essay. Thank you!
Do You Need