My Support Forums - View Single Post - Suicide Discussion Thread

Mar 12, 2020 at 03:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TunedOut

I am so sorry about your family's loss.

I truly hope that, with time, the tragic feelings of trauma will become less intense for all of you and you will begin to focus more on the happy moments that you were able to share.

I do not remember what your spiritual beliefs are but I believe that your nephew is still with you and his parents in spirit and may even visit all of you periodically. I hope that you all can find ways to heal and comfort yourself. I hope that his parents can find places to talk.

Sometimes having people in our family who have a mental illness or addiction can be very isolating. It is just not the kind of thing that we can talk to everyone about because, I think there are still some people and employers that have fears and misconceptions about mental illness. None of my employers know about my mental illness and I think it is for the best (in my case) not to bring it up but it would be wonderful for some if they could and feel safe about mentioning it (I know we have laws that protect people but law does not completely eradicate internal misconceptions and bias). Unfortunately, I would have to include myself in the category of having had an unhelpful reaction to a loved one in the middle of a crisis. Our society has so much more to learn in this area--myself included!

Thank you, Tuned Out. And yes, I have my own type of spiritual beliefs that keep my nephew alive, in a sense, but it would be so so much better for him to be alive in person!

I know how the extreme pain of depression can make life seem so unbearable, but just as that tidal wave came that eventually took him, so can we survive tidal waves. Though I can't speak for everyone, I can say that the worst of times can be left in the past. If only my nephew had gotten proper help and had a life preserver, we might be walking in those same woods today...talking about birds. Talking about how happy we are to be alive, despite some of the deep pain from the past.

I do hope you will find more people willing to listen, when you need it. We are here. We understand! I understand the hesitancy to reach out to certain people, under certain conditions. Mental health issues of all sorts, including depression, are still sadly regarded differently than other types of illness. I want that to change. May we all work (in whatever capacity, to whatever degree possible) to help that change.