On Mental Health

Hello, Vane here. It’s with a heavy heart that I come here to talk to you guys about a serious issue. Yesterday, one of my best friends committed suicide. He had been going through some tough times and suffered a lot setbacks in the past few months. We all knew he was feeling depressed and that he was having it rough, but he never ever showed any signs of wanting to end it all to me, to other friends, nor to his family. It took us all by surprise and I am still in shock. Even as I write this I am having to stop to wipe back the tears, this has been a deeply upsetting event for me but that’s exactly why I’m writing this.

I want to at least see some good coming out of this whole story. I want to raise awareness of the dangers that depression brings and tell people that suicide is often silent and it strikes when you least expect it. So if you are going through a hard time, please. Tell your friends, tell your family.  It’s not a weakness, you’re not being a bother or a loser when you seek help. You have no idea how many people told me stories of how they could have helped him if only they had known what he was going through. And if you want, you can talk to me, comment here, DM me here or on twitter, or on discord, I will do whatever I can to help you.

And look to your friends and family, especially if they have been down lately. I had friends joke about suicide, or telling me that they had thoughts about killing themselves, these people are all fine because we talked and helped them as best as we could. In my unfortunate experience whenever someone is actually going to commit suicide they don’t tell anyone of what they are thinking or are about to do, you think they are though, that they are fine, and the next moment they are gone. I really wish I had asked him if he was having dark thoughts, I would prefer he had laughed at me and said I was crazy then being here now wrestling with the guilt, and wondering if I couldn’t have done something, anything to save him.

Depression is possibly the biggest problem our generation is facing and I won’t even pretend I know how to solve this problem. But I had thoughts of suicide in the past, I struggled with depression and still feel it creeping back into me and have to fight it again. There’s little we can do other than support each other, stay healthy, have goals in life, exercise, and open ourselves to other people. I like to think that this message and my renewed actions and awareness of the issue are going to save a life from the same fate one day. In that way, I take comfort in the fact that my friend didn’t die in vain after all and that his light is going to go on shining down on me and on all of us.

Stay safe and healthy, everyone.