I cried this morning for Robin Williams death, for him, his family and everyone that has ever connected with him and looked up to him as a positive role model. Ive experienced his pain and is one of the reasons Im doing my fundraising hike for beyondblue and Suicide Prevention Australia. Experiencing depression or suicidal thoughts are okay, its not a sign of weakness and there is nothing wrong with you or your loved ones. In my experience there is a reason for everything and that includes suicide. It was the case for me that I didnt want to die, but the pain was too much and at that point in my life I hadnt learnt how to live and how to express myself and didnt feel safe and supported. The more our community understands this, the less alienated you or your family or friends will feel when you or they are experiencing depression or suicidal thoughts. Every day in Australia 6-7 Australians will die by suicide and on average with the latest estimates every 10 minutes someone will attempt suicide. And even these numbers may be under represented due to reporting difficulties. In addition there are over 1 million Australians currently experiencing depression and 2 million experiencing an anxiety condition. As a society there are many things we can do to reduce the impact on this in our community. We may need to change our education systems, how we advertise in the media, how we define what values we want for our country and change how we measure success and self worth. There is hope and we can all individually influence and impact the world around us everyday. Never give up, you dont know how close you were to shedding the old identity of yourself and rediscovering a new way of connecting and interacting with the world around you. Maybe the best thing you can do for someone is to learn some new skills to support someone you know. You can phone the beyondblue supportline 24/7 on 1300 224 636 to get some help with this or if in a crisis situation call Lifeline on 131114 (Australian numbers) Connection into someones inner world is needed to show compassion and unserstanding beyond the outer masks that many of us wear. You dont need to fix their pain, just walk alongside them to show your support and love. Small problems to you can be enormous problems to another. Sometimes a close friend, parent or partner wont even know the depths of pain, guilt, fear and past trauma hidden within. Take care and hugs to everyone.
Posted on: Tue, 12 Aug 2014 09:11:52 +0000
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