Understanding Suicide
Nobody tries to understand the pain of a mental health issue.
Why do I say that?
Consider for one moment that if I have a fractured bone, I will have the sympathy from all the family members and friends even if they have never experienced that physical pain of a broken bone themselves.
Similarly, if my friends or family will hear of me having cancer or a heart attack, I will have the support and sympathy of all, even though many people now know that our toxic lifestyle choices cause these illnesses in the body. Yet I will not be judged, at least not on my face.
But now consider that if they were to hear of me suffering from Depression or Anxiety, they will immediately begin to attack the victim in various ways!
- "Why do you think you have depression?"
- "What is wrong with your life?'
- "You have everything going in your favour, yet you say you have depression?"
- "How can you be depressed when life is so beautiful!??"
Do they ever ask an asthma patient why they can’t breathe even as there is oxygen all around us?
The bitter truth is we; the patients of mental health illnesses are extremely lonely. Society doesn’t bother to educate themselves on such issues, and hence, we are shamed, we are ridiculed, we are judged mercilessly - we are often driven to the point of suicide.
Do you know why depressed individuals end up killing themselves?
Not just because of their illness, but mostly because they lose hope in getting any regard, any support, any help from their own families and friends.
They get tired of waiting for even one single person to show up with any support or understanding.
You cannot imagine the loneliness one feels at such a point.
We are indeed social animals, we need emotional support and love from those around us.
But mental health patients hardly ever receive that, isn’t it a wonder then, why so many keep suffering but don’t end their lives?
It is indeed a surprise to me, to see them chose to suffer rather than just end their miserable, lonely lives; yes, isn't it a surprising why I chose to keep suffering, year after year, decade after decade?
Perhaps I go on living for the sake of my parents or siblings or children but why should I not choose to end this loneliness?
Why don’t I have the right to end it and stop this suffering which nobody but me can understand?
The hand which was dealt to me in this lifetime seems too much for my bearing capability.
I have suffered for more than two decades and I’m losing patience now. If only the society understood our pain, they wouldn’t have opposed euthanasia for those suffering from chronic mental health issues.
If I lose my patience and choose to end my suffering, those who claim to love me would judge me after I am gone.
But do they have the right to do so, if they couldn’t provide basic emotional support to me while I lived a miserably lonely life?
