I recently had the unpleasant task of going to a funeral of a new friend of mine who took his own life. Unfortunately, he was a new friend so I had not been around him enough to see what he was going through. I thought to myself, what could I have done? What could I have said that might have kept him from killing himself?
Depression and suicide is a growing problem in the United States and people need to be aware of the signs of someone with deep depression and suicidal thoughts or ideas. I am not a doctor or counselor, but I have been around enough people who have had these symptoms to know when there is a problem. When a person is isolated, is withdrawn, does not want to get out of bed, talks about death or doing harm to themselves, these are just a few of the signs. Please do not ignore these warning signs, get them help with a counselor or psychologist.
If you think they have taken an overdose of medication or done something else to harm themselves or others call 911. One of the worst things a person can say to someone with depression is “get over it.” I remember some years ago in Seattle a woman was on a bridge threatening to jump and there were people below yelling for her to jump. What a sick world we live in! Telling someone with depression to just get over it is like telling them to jump!
Let’s help people understand depression is not to be taken lightly.
Dennis Sigler
Everett
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