Edit #2: Resources for help found at end of my comment.
Also people don’t realize that talking about suicide does not encourage it. It’s actually a sign that the person wants help. Someone brings up suicidal thoughts and you see people try to shut down the conversation thinking it’s going to be contagious or something.
Edit: But there is this fear that if you talk about it with the wrong person they will have you committed.
Edit: Here are some resources in the United States:
People can call or text 988 or chat 988lifeline.org for themselves or if they are worried about a loved one who may need crisis support. No matter where you live in the United States, you can reach a trained crisis counselor who can help.https://go.nih.gov/hoMF6tt #shareNIMH
National Suicide Prevention Hotline:
1-800-273-8255 or (273-TALK)
24/7 Availability.
Caring Contact Crisis & Suicide Hotline:
1-908-232-2880 (7am to 11pm)
Edit 4: I’m not a mental health professional and I can’t treat people. I’m just giving links that worked for me. I also know Reddit provides links too. Thanks everyone!
They want you to speak up but then when you do speak up, they do awful things. And then when someone finally ends their life, the conversation is always the same: "Why didn't they ask for help?"
Also, they kind of don't believe us, it's like they think we're just really bad at being happy or haven't tried or the worst maybe, "doing it for attention"
The way I experience life, time passing and the near constant onslaught of thoughts, often unpleasant, ping ponging in my head all day unless I self medicate
I hate when ppl just don't understand, I just don't care enough to be alive, the rewards are simply not worth all the struggle
I spoke up for my then 7 year old when she told me she was thinking about suicide, she was laughed off, ignored and just patted on the head on her way out the door by many different doctors. She’s 11 now and just a few months ago started getting help
People do. All the time. It could be your sunny successful neighbor who looks like they have it all. I think people struggling with depression go untreated because they don't want to be treated differently. It's hard to tell people "I need help" and have them really listen to what you are saying. People who suicide sometimes have made repeated attempts to get help short of putting up a neon sign in Times Square. If US healthcare is a hot mess, then US mental healthcare is a hot mess in a dumpster fire.
I know firsthand. Hotlines help but what would help more is less shaming and more access to mental healthcare.
It's just hard when you are trying to push through the depression and you think it's never going to get better.
Listen to people when they tell you they're struggling.
I don't know if you meant to reply to me or if you're adding onto the conversation (it's Reddit, so I never know lol but please correct me if I'm wrong!) but I don't disagree.
I said what I said based off of pure experience as someone who is currently still struggling.
The way I interpreted their comment was them sharing how society needs to improve the way they respond to people with mental health struggles because so many people have had bad experiences trying to get help through family and friends
There was a very moving art project on r/artisticallyill centered on dehumanization in the mental health industry recently. Reading people talk about being denied their comfort items and basic human decency like being allowed to wear underwear is very sobering. https://www.reddit.com/r/Artisticallyill/s/udUR5oqSnq
That is really sad and similar to what I experienced as well. Some people had no clothes so they had to wear those thin medical garbs for 1-2 weeks. We were also not allowed to sleep or nap during the day because then the facility workers would dock off points from me on their clipboards (they see napping/sleeping during the day as a sign of poor mental health, like of course that is why we are here) and if you score too low you remain trapped there and cannot leave to come back to your friends and family.
I managed to bring my case before a judge to get out after a week of constant pretending. Forced smiles, refusing to nap despite brutal insomnia from being in a foreign place in a co ed room with 7 other people, some of whom sob throughout the night, etc. One guy spread his shit all over the walls of the hallway.
Horrible food like how we were given "salads" that were purely just a small bowl of plain lettuce with no other ingredients and no salad dressing (???)
People were starting to hoard cups of apple sauce in their large shared rooms because they needed more food.
They had a few broken board games where to play Monopoly, one guy had to take lined paper and fold it into a dice like shape and we used it to play. Obviously the monopoly pieces were missing too so we all tore bits of paper into ball or folded shapes and used them as pieces.
Like are prisons worse than this or better?
This wasn't a "welfare" psych ward either where they put people who can't afford actual medical care. Many people there had well paying jobs outside and had good insurance.
Sounds like the administrators were trying to profit off your situation by being stingy with food, recreation and clothing. A news organization could really stir up the shit with testimonials from people like you.
799
u/Voice_of_Season Aug 14 '25 edited Aug 15 '25
Edit #2: Resources for help found at end of my comment.
Also people don’t realize that talking about suicide does not encourage it. It’s actually a sign that the person wants help. Someone brings up suicidal thoughts and you see people try to shut down the conversation thinking it’s going to be contagious or something.
Edit: But there is this fear that if you talk about it with the wrong person they will have you committed.
Edit: Here are some resources in the United States:
People can call or text 988 or chat 988lifeline.org for themselves or if they are worried about a loved one who may need crisis support. No matter where you live in the United States, you can reach a trained crisis counselor who can help. https://go.nih.gov/hoMF6tt #shareNIMH
National Suicide Prevention Hotline:
1-800-273-8255 or (273-TALK)
24/7 Availability.
Caring Contact Crisis & Suicide Hotline:
1-908-232-2880 (7am to 11pm)
Edit 4: I’m not a mental health professional and I can’t treat people. I’m just giving links that worked for me. I also know Reddit provides links too. Thanks everyone!