Mental health. What can we do to help?

Good morning, everyone. It's actually 12 pm but I stayed up a little late so I'm waking up a little late too but that's okay! It's okay to sleep in sometimes. I actually use to have a really bad sleep schedule and would stay up until 5-6 am and not even wake until 3 pm so i think I'm doing a pretty good job. Anyway, today I just want to talk a little bit about mental health. It's something that needs spoken about as often as we talk about the gas prices. I feel like the world is at a state where no is thinking about other people. People have grown selfish and ignorant, an i hope to spread awareness and help as much as I can!  This will contain topics of suicide so please just be aware and in a comfortable safe place as you read this. And like always, if you can relate, feel free to comment. I don't judge and this is what my blog is for.

Let me start off with something that some people may not understand, I want to spread awareness of this because it could help someone. Some people have no intention of ending their life. They may genuinely love living, have a good life, and still, tragically, commit suicide. It’s difficult for others to understand that someone can be far from suicidal yet still engage in self-harm. It’s terrifying to experience anger or sadness so overwhelming that it leads to irreversible consequences. honest, sometimes, I feel lost in those feelings, struggling to find my way out. I have people that love me. I have four baby brothers that I may not play with every day, but I would do anything to protect them and make them happy. They're my entire world. But there’s one thing I’ve come to realize—having loving people around you doesn’t always mean you’re able to love yourself in hard moments.

I’ve struggled with being kind to myself when I’m in distress. I’ve had days when I felt completely consumed by negative thoughts, and even though I have people who love me, who care deeply for me, it’s hard to let that love reach me when I’m overwhelmed. It’s hard to feel like I deserve kindness and love when all I can feel is sadness or frustration with myself. I know this is something many people go through, even when they’re surrounded by support and love. 

If you’re going through this too, I want you to know that you’re seen. Even when it feels like no one understands, I do. I understand how hard it is to allow yourself to feel worthy of that love, and how it can feel impossible to ask for help when you need it most. But please remember, you don’t have to go through it alone, and your pain is real. You are seen, and you are heard, even when it feels like you’re not.

This is a struggle that I think I’ll always carry, but I also believe in my ability to get through it. I want to encourage you to keep fighting, to keep being kind to yourself, even when it seems like the hardest thing to do. You are not alone in this battle. There is always hope, even on the days when it feels far out of reach.

This is for men too. I know guys have been told " men don't cry!" or gotten belittled. Been told they're not tough if they show emotion. I want you to know It's okay to cry. Man or Woman, you can cry, I recommend finding a quiet place by the water, laying in the grass, and simply letting it all out. Cry, scream, whine—whatever you need. Your feelings are valid. Everyone’s feelings are valid. It doesn’t matter your gender or how you were raised. We all experience pain, and it’s okay to express it. Too often, we are conditioned to hide our emotions, believing that showing them makes us weak. But the truth is, it’s the act of holding them in that hurts us, and pain demands to be felt. 

In 2018, my cousin passed away. He committed suicide and left a few words in a Bible. One phrase that stuck with most of the family was: “Family is power.” He was a loving person. He was joyful and full of humor. He was always there making everyone laugh. The police said he had been planning this for a while. They found videos on his phone where he filmed himself setting things up multiple times. It’s heartbreaking, and it haunts me to think that we could have missed the signs, that there might have been more we could have done. I was young, I don't think myself or anyone could have helped him. But, I can help other people. We can all be there for people we know are struggling. Isn’t it terrifying to think that you could be talking to your brother or sister, thinking they’re perfectly fine in their mind only to realize later that they already have set their mind to never think again in three months and seven days? We don’t realize how much people hide behind a smile or a laugh. We assume that just because they’re not showing any obvious signs of distress, everything is fine. But we never know the silent struggles they carry. The truth is, mental health issues are often invisible, and the most peaceful-looking people can sometimes be fighting the most intense battles.

Isn’t it chilling that you can have a brief conversation with a stranger on your way to your local coffee shop, and they might be on their way to the town bridge? There are so many people silently suffering. You might see someone walking down the street, smiling, laughing, but you have no idea that they’re fighting overwhelming emotions inside. What about those people struggling with addiction, unable to quit, their minds consumed by it? They’re just trying to survive the week when you’re thriving and living. What about the people who went to a therapist and said, “I have thoughts of committing suicide,” but instead of receiving compassion or support, they were given pills to numb their feelings? They weren't given a hug, or a listening ear. They were zombified and told if they miss their medication, something bad could happen. These people are looking for help, but the help they receive doesn’t always address the issues. It’s so easy to dismiss someone’s pain or assume that a quick fix will make it go away, but real healing takes time, understanding, and compassion.

What about that woman sitting silently in the corner of your favorite bookstore, whom you made a few remarks to as a joke, not realizing that your “joke” cost her life that afternoon? We never know the impact our words can have, especially on someone already struggling. The guy who sits in the back of the class, kind of quiet but laughs every now and then, hoping someone will talk to him? He’s yearning for connection, but too afraid to make the first move. The girl who comes to school with bruises? The guy who didn’t show up for a week. We have no idea what others are going through, yet we are often so quick to respond with hostility, judgment, or indifference. 

I feel deeply that we need to do better. Everyone has their own struggles, and while we may never fully understand what others are going through, we can still offer support, kindness, and a safe space to talk. The truth is, so many people around us are dealing with things we could never imagine, and we’ll never know the full extent of their pain unless they trust us enough to open up. But I believe that through compassion and advocacy, we can start to make a difference. I want to help people in life. I want to be someone who makes a positive impact, who can help others find their way when they feel lost. I want to advocate strongly for mental health awareness, because I know how important it is to be heard and understood. It’s time we create a world where no one feels alone in their pain, where mental health is a priority, and where kindness is the first response. We have the power to make that change, but we need to act now. I need to talk about something that has been on my mind heavily.

A few weeks ago, I had a conversation with some people, and there's something from that discussion that has been bothering me ever since. It's about the way we view those who struggle, those who are dealt a bad hand in life. There are good people out there, people who have been through unimaginable crisis, who find themselves lost in addiction or mental health struggles. Just because they're not receiving the help they need; it doesn't make them terrible people. What disturbs me, though, is the lack of empathy I encountered in that conversation.

One person I spoke to tried to justify the death penalty for Timothy McVeigh, the Oklahoma City bomber, because he committed such a horrific crime. The individuals argued that McVeigh deserved to die, yet I couldn’t help but think about the circumstances McVeigh was facing. He was struggling with severe PTSD, schizophrenia, and was undoubtedly battling deep internal demons. These people said that what he did deserved to empathy, yet both of these individuals claim to support and want to help people who struggle with mental health. It's easy to look at someone like him and label them as "evil," but when you take a step back, you start to see that perhaps these individuals aren't inherently bad. They are victims of circumstances that they couldn’t control. Their mental health issues, their struggles—these need compassion and help, not condemnation.

Of course, murder is wrong. No one should have to suffer the consequences of someone’s actions, and there are people who commit atrocities that we cannot justify or ignore. But we should never forget the human element. We must look beyond the act and recognize the deep wounds and struggles that may have led to that point. We must have empathy for the journey that someone has been on, even if it leads them to a place where they make horrible choices. It's not about excusing their actions, but rather about understanding how they ended up that way.

What hurts the most is how many people go unnoticed in their suffering. So many individuals ask for help, time and time again, and when they don't get it, when they're ignored or brushed off, they spiral. They fall deeper into the darkness. It's heartbreaking to think about the people who go unnoticed because they’re struggling internally in a way that we can’t always see. Mental illness is a true illness, and it’s devastating to see how little recognition it receives. It's not something that can be fixed overnight, and it's not something that can be solved with simple solutions.

The evil in the world isn't just born from malice or pure wickedness—it’s often the result of deep, unresolved pain, mental struggles, and a lack of understanding. We have to stop looking at these individuals as inherently evil and start asking ourselves how we could have helped them, how we could have been there for them before it got to that point. Empathy is so important. It’s easy to label someone based on their actions, but it takes a deeper understanding to see the reasons behind them. The more we turn our backs on those who are struggling, the more we perpetuate a world where people feel forgotten, alone, and misunderstood. 

Of course, what Timothy did was wrong, and he should have been locked away from others for the safety of everyone involved. However, I truly believe he also deserved help. The same goes for others who have committed actions that were undeniably harmful. Simply locking someone away in isolation, without offering the necessary support or resources for their rehabilitation, is not right. People are complicated, and I believe that even those who have made terrible mistakes deserve the opportunity to receive help and healing. Who knows what that person went through?

Now, if someone shows no remorse for what they’ve done, if they lack empathy for their victim, and if their actions are driven by pure malice, it’s a devastating reality to face. But even then, I still feel a deep sense of sorrow for the person they’ve become. I can’t help but wonder how a person becomes so devoid of empathy, what they’ve been through to lead them down such a destructive path. While I recognize that there are individuals who may not have had a troubled upbringing and are driven by true evil, I still believe it’s essential to understand that, in some way, they were shaped by forces beyond their control. There’s something tragic about the idea that such a person was born capable of such harm. 

So many people talk about supporting mental health, about being there for others, and advocating for those who are struggling. They say the correct things, post all the right quotes, hashtags, and claim they are here to talk. But here's the hard truth: everyone seems to be all for supporting mental health, until it’s someone who didn’t receive that support. Until it’s someone who’s been left alone with their demons and monsters, someone who has reached the breaking point because no one stepped in when they needed help the most. And suddenly, the story changes. People don’t want to offer help anymore—they pull away, or even worse, they judge.

The truth is, supporting mental health becomes difficult when it’s no longer just a conversation, a hashtag, or a distant issue that doesn’t affect them personally. It upsets me deeply that once that person you wanted to help seems like a “problem” to you, you no longer want to help. Now that they aren’t so “easy”. Those same people who once claimed to care about mental health are the first to distance themselves. The narrative shifts from support to shame, from empathy to disgust. That is so wrong in my opinion. How can you claim to love and be there for everybody but the moment someone “sicker” than you can handle needs help, the love and care isn’t there anymore? That’s where the real tragedy is. Those people are sick, and cruel. They only put on a front to make themselves look better, they don’t care how you turn out in the long run, they care if how you turn out affects them, and i think that’s wrong. I don’t help people to make myself look better, i help people to the best of my ability because i want everyone to be safe and healthy. If i tried my best to help someone and they still turned out bad, i would pray every day for them and not worry about if people are looking at me negatively for it because i know my heart was genuine and all i wanted to do was help. Some people aren’t kind enough to be that way. Mental health struggles are not just theoretical or something that happens to "other people." They are messy, complicated, and often painful. And when a person’s mental health deteriorates to the point where they lash out, hurt themselves, or hurt others, it's easy to criticize or walk away, but that’s exactly when they need help the most. I am so sad that some people in the world don’t have this kind of empathy anymore.

We can’t say we care about mental health until it gets uncomfortable. We can't advocate for mental health awareness without being ready to face the consequences of neglect. We must learn that mental health is not just about the good moments or the easy-to-solve issues. I'll be here for anyone who needs to talk. You can cry and scream. You can mope on the floor and sob like a baby. I want you all to know that I will be here. And I'm sure so many more people will be. Don't be afraid to speak up and ask for help. I know that it might be hard to admit you have things you need to work on, it's hard to admit we need a listening ear. I'm sorry the world is unfair and unkind, but we can all spread kindness and love. It's what we are meant to do anyway. I think the whole purpose of living is to be kind and love. Say hi to strangers, compliment their hair, clothes, shoes and just wish they have a good day. Help animals on the side of the road. Pick flowers. Hold doors open for strangers. Can we all just start loving and caring?

Have you ever tried to hide your pain and battle it alone? Have you ever spent nights on end crying, hurting and nobody has reached out? I know how it feels. I once was outside at 3 am screaming and crying, unable to breathe and the one person I kept calling ignored me to play a video game. I was so angry. I could have hurt myself bad that night. I ended up calling the Suicide Hotline and they told me I sounded like a smart young girl who could comprehend what i was feeling and that I'd be okay. They told me to go back inside and hang out with my baby brother. It worked. I just needed to be around someone i knew loved me more than anything. If you have someone who you know will be there for you, please talk to them. I know it's hard, I know it's scary, but they'd rather you talk to them about hard things and work through it than to see you hurt, or even worse, dead. I have to go now, after writing this i want to spend time with my loved ones. I hope you all have a good day, talk soon.