10 September: World Suicide Prevention Day

Hey lovelies 💕,

Thank you all so much for your lovely comments on my last blog post. I hope that I will feel soon okay and that everything will be allright. This is my 100^th post on WordPress. I just can’t believe I’ve wrote so many posts already. It’s an incredible adventure. I’m really so thankful to be part of this beautiful blogging community. Thank you all for always holding space and for always being there. I’m here to stay and will always create great content. I’m also happy to write new content. You guys mean the world to me and I wish to meet you all soon. I want to be able to give you all a hug, chat and have fun together. I love you all so much ❤

Today I want to talk about something really important which I also shared last year on my blog. It’s about world suicide prevention day. I want to add more things and also share a beautiful text from To Write Love On Her Arms. TWLOHA is a beautiful non-provit movement dedicated to presenting hope & finding help for people struggling with depression, addiction, self-injury and suicide. There’s also an other proyect called Proyect Semicolon which is an organization dedicated to the prevention of suicide. Through raising public awareness, educating communities, and equipping every person with the right rools, they know that they can save lives.

Today is an important day in the world. Today is world suicide prevention day. More than 800.000 people die each year of commiting suicide. That’s one person every 40 seconds. This is just so horrible. Suicide is still one of the main causes of death in the world. It’s really a shocking fact.

I think a person who has a mental illness can have suicidal thoughts. Of course, I will not say everybody because there are some people who don’t have these thoughts. I will admit that suffering from anxiety myself I have these thoughts. I still feel sometimes ashamed to have these thoughts. People always say when someone commit suicide how selfish this person is to leave all his/her beloved ones. Now, I know that it isn’t selfish at all. A person who commit suicide didn’t had enough help or support and just couldn’t stand any longer the pain they feel in life.

I know from myself that I will never do anything to harm myself or be in danger. I just have sometimes negative thoughts like it would be better if I die because nobody loves me or because I’m not worth it. I only remember a time at college where I really began to feel extremely bad. I don’t know if I really felt suicidal but I began to have so many negative thoughts, couldn’t sleep at night, felt really anxious and was completely withdrawing my social life. I didn’t leave my house for like two months while working on a proyect of photography for school. This was really not okay. My good friends also began to notice that something wasn’t allright. This also happened in Spain this year twice where I didn’t left the house in two weeks. I still feel a bit scared to share my story because it feels like I can’t label myself for a person who is really in danger you know. I just wish we would treat every mental illness with respect and understanding. Everyone deserve help and every experience is valid. Not because someone has it worse than you means that your feelings and thoughts don’t count.

I’m glad I have a supportive family and friends. I’m glad I can get help whenever I need to. Lately, I’ve been thinking to really go to therapy because maybe I need it too besides taking antidepressants and anti anxiety medication. I’m again struggling with anxiety and with the things I explained in My last blog post. I tried 7 sessions with a social worker in The Netherlands and I was all the time too anxious to go and it made it worse until the point I had to vomit each time. So, I still don’t know if I will try it again or if it will work out. It’s just important to have support and help whenever you need to.

The point is suicide is everywhere around us. I don’t want to sound depressing but it’s. I’ve heard of some people from my high school who commited suicide. I didn’t know them but still it hits me. We all know that so many artists commited suicide. It’s really painful. Last year Chester Benningston commited suicide. This year Avicii, Kate Spade and Mc Miller commited suicide. Also Demi Lovato did an overdose which could have been really bad but I’m so thankful that she got the help she need to recover now. There are so many artists to name to the endless list. It’s really sad. What I think is important is that we have to talk about suicide every day not only when a famous one dies of suicide. It’s a difficult subject but we have to spread awareness. Every day there are people commiting suicide. Also to mention the dead of Mc Miller this weekend. People are blaming Ariana Grande for his death which I found really not right. He was a drug addict and she felt she was in a toxic relationship. She has the right to walk away. At the end, the responsibility of one who commit suicide is always theirs.

I still believe that suicide isn’t an option because there’s help and treatment possible. Society needs to raise more awareness and talk about it. The number of people commiting suicide needs to be much less. I was afraid to speak up about my anxiety but I’m so glad I did. There shouldn’t be a stigma around mental health illnesses aymore. Every day we are breaking this stigma with talking about it. It’s so important to talk about it, find support and get help. There needs to be help available for people who haven’t much money. Sometimes a treatment can be very expensive and not all people can pay that amount of people. There needs to be organizations who cover those costs so that everyone can get the treatment without any problem. I hope that maybe in the future I can help these people in need. Even though I’m struggling myself I’m always here to help people.

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To end this post I want to share something I find so beautiful on the blog of TWLOHA:

Tomorrow needs you.

Tomorrow needs you to be a good friend.
Tomorrow needs you to hold your little sister’s hand.
Tomorrow needs you to be an uncle, a classmate, a roommate, a cousin.
Tomorrow needs you to laugh. To dance. To build. To dream.

Tomorrow needs you to stay for all the things you love.
Your favorite song still needs you to sing.
You still need to hear your child’s voice.
Your favorite film needs you to watch it once again.
Your favorite meal, favorite city, favorite beach, and favorite book.
Your favorite place to watch the sunset.

Won’t you stay to see the sun rise?

Tomorrow needs you to write that novel, record that podcast, share that poem.
Because no one else has your voice.
Because no one else can play your part.

More than anything, tomorrow needs you to love and be loved.
You don’t have to perform or impress or achieve.
You can if you want but tomorrow needs you just to be yourself.
To love the people you love and to be loved by all the ones who love you.

If you need tomorrow to heal and to recover, it’s okay.
If you need ten tomorrows or a hundred or a whole year, it’s okay.
There’s no rush and you won’t have to go alone.

Today is not the day your story ends.
Today is not the day the darkness wins.
Today needs you to know this world needs you.
Today needs you to know that you can say your pain out loud.
Today needs you to know that it’s okay to ask for help.
Today needs you to know that you can get the help you need.

Because tomorrow needs you.

I also want to write my own statement:

Tomorrow needs me because I’m here to help myself and other people.

Tomorrow needs me because my family and friends love me.

Tomorrow needs me to inspire the world with my writing.

You can also make it by yourself. Start by downloading the response card and fill the “Tomorrow needs me because…” prompt. You can share it online and use #WSPD18 and #TomorrowNeedsYou when you share your picture. Don’t forget to tag @twloha on Twitter and Instagram so that they can see it. It’s important to raise our voice and share our story online.

ResponseCard

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To all the people suffering right now from mental health issues: please reach out. Don’t be ashamed to admit that you are feeling bad. It isn’t your fault. I know from experience that sometimes I find it hard to open up when I feel bad. It can be a good thing to ask someone how are you and ask them if they are really okay. When good friends or family asked me that and looked me into the eyes I cried because I couldn’t lie again about how I’m feeling. I told them the truth of how I felt. Not every person with a mental illness can reach other so I suggest that we all reach out. When we see someone struggling help them when they can’t help themselves. Let’s make this world a better place with more love, hope, support and understanding 🌍

Always remember mental health is as important as physical health. You don’t have to do it alone. There will always people out there that wants to help you when you are struggling. We have to help each other. You are worth it. Life is though but we are thougher. We can go through it all together. You deserve the help you need. You can do it. You are never alone 💕💫 We are all in this together 💪

I send you all so much love and light in life 💕💫 ,

xoxo Christina