The news of Kate Spade’s suicide hit me hard. Then hearing this morning of Anthony Bourdain’s suicide was another mind-numbing blow.
It’s not that I find suicide shocking, really…
I battle depression daily. I faced suicidal depression in my early twenties and fantasized about escape from my inner pain. Medication and therapy saved my life and enable me to continue my fight daily.
But even though I live with this strange beast of depression, it is so hard to comprehend celebrities who appear to have everything killing themselves.
It is proof that depression is REAL.
The trouble with the term “depression” is that it’s so watered down. Everyone feels depressed sometimes, but that’s not the same thing as true depression.
You can’t buy your way out of depression. You can’t travel your way out of depression. You can’t just snap out of depression.
If the suicide of celebrities teaches us one thing… it’s that depression is incredibly real.
Celebrities have access to medical help and everything that we can imagine would make us happy.
So if celebrities lose their battles with depression and commit suicide, please can we all start to believe our family and friends when they are depressed.
Depression is real.
Depression kills.
Mental health matters and we need to get rid of the stigma, start talking about it, and stop judging people who are battling a beast so brutal it can cause those who have everything to give up everything.
I’ve written before about how to survive depression. Please read that post so you can perhaps help yourself or someone else get through one day and then another and then another until the pain isn’t quite so bad.
The tragedy of suicide is unlike anything else. It feels so avoidable to those left behind. But I beg of you to not judge those who lost their battle. Instead, let us all be reminded that depression is real.
US National Suicide Hotline (toll-free) number: 1-800-273-8255
Canadian National Suicide Hotline (toll-free) number: 1-833-456-4566
Written by Susan Carraretto, co-founder of 5 Minutes for Mom
Talk with me: @5minutesformom and Facebook.com/5minutesformom
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