Wednesday, December 10, 2008

vaguely blogging it out: alternatives

I'm exhausted.

Today was a definite pendulum. I can't go into a lot of detail at the moment, but I've got a lot running through my mind.

Up until this year I'd never personally known anyone who committed suicide.

Now there are two people on that list. Not friends, moreso folks with whom I butted heads on more than one occasion, but never people whom I wished actual harm to befall. People who could do a lot of harm themselves when their bipolar disorder or depression flared toward the negative, but people who had glimmers of good intentions when thinking and acting positively.

My heart goes out to their friends and families.

It seems the older we get the more "crazies" we all know. Unfortunately my experiences this year have just shown me that some of these folks are just crying out for help.

The strange thing is reflecting upon this, there are two other people I know with bipolar family members who also took their own lives this year. Is something up with 2008? Was there a prescription drug that expired this year? It's worrisome that when you google "bipolar" the first link is GlaxoSmithKline.

There are of course foundations and associations for the plethora of psychological illnesses out there which could lead an individual down this path. PostSecret, which I've mentioned on this blog before, does raise a lot of awareness on this issue. They heavily promote the Hope Line as an option for those contemplating suicide.

There is always a better alternative.

1 comment:

  1. At one of the low points in my life, I called a Suicide Hotline. It was horrible. They weren't helpful at all. The guy on the other line said "Uh Huh...Uh Huh" the whole time. No nothing.

    To Write Love on Her Arms is another great cause dedicated to Suicide, etc.

    ReplyDelete

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