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Sean has permitted the author to post here-Admin

Hi all.

57.7 million Americans suffer from depression and mental health issues in any given year. This figure is astronomical. Only two thirds of those who have been diagnosed actually receive the treatment they need.

Eighty percent of people who do receive treatment for depression are treated successfully. These are the facts. But there is of course more to treating mental ailments than just drugs. Medications help us sure, especially if we have a chemical imbalance, but what about self help? Are we ever really truly healed if we fail to confront the issues that cause us to be depressed and suicidal in the first place? The answer is obviously no, because we have simply buried it within our subconscious and allowed it to remain there until it decides to resurface to haunt us.

There are many ways through which we can heal ourselves from mental illness, but we have to work at it. We have to firstly determine what the mental ailment is, then ask ourselves why we have it. Is it a chemical imbalance., Is it something we brought on ourselves by living in denial and allowing it to cultivate. Did a tragedy occur. Is it brought on by something chronic, abuse perhaps. There’s a reason. Can we help feeling this way? No, but we can do something about it so we don’t have to suffer.

How do I know?

Because like many of the people on this forum, I have been there. The choice is yours whether or not you want to help yourself, nobody else is going to do it for you. People can support you and care about you, give you advice, love you, set you in the right direction, and prescribe you meds. But YOU and only you can determine which route to go. If you truly WANT to heal, or at least alleviate the pain you can. If you do not believe that how are you going to grow. If you continue to look at every obstacle as an obstacle instead of a challenge, how are you going to grow from it and become a stronger person?

I am not saying that people who are depressed do not want to heal. I am saying that the only way we can achieve it is if we work at it. If we lay around all day dwelling in a negative state we cannot evolve. We cannot help but be depressed, but we have to throw ourselves into a constructive environment. We have to, to achieve an ultimate goal.

I have resided in the abyss. I was mentally abused my entire life by my father, he made me feel like a piece of crap, and yes I believed it for a long time. I knew he didn’t love me as much as my sister and he admitted that to me. Like it was nothing. “Of course I love her more, she is my first born!” He made me feel unloved throughout my whole childhood, even though I adored him. I just wanted his love and attention. I never once received it. His abuse messed up my head in later life. One struggle after another, in addition to being homeless, eventually led to a suicide attempt. I’d had enough. I was over it! Over life! I was tired of struggling and tired of banging my head against a brick wall. I hated my existence, I didn’t want to face the pain anymore. So I figured I’d take the easy way out and just kill myself. Nobody cares anyway, why should I. That was my attitude. My courage to fight what seemed like incessant battles came after my suicide attempt because I figured “Well if I am not now going to die, I may as well work on my issues.”

I learned that people really did love and care about my well being, even the guy at the local Blockbuster. Every individual who found out about my attempt were saddened that my life had come to that. I would have hurt a lot of people. I didn’t really think about the consequences of those I left behind in all honesty. I did not realize how selfish I was being by adding intense pain to those who truly loved me.

So I got help. I worked on my issues and I began to view life differently. Some people judged me, the mentally healthy, because they could not understand. Those who loved me either educated themselves or gave me encouragement.

It was a process. The main thing, and this is something so very very important. Something where forums like this come into play. GET IT OUT THERE! Talk to people, do not suffer alone. You are not alone. I wrote, I wrote for a solid year for hours every day. I wrote about the whole suicide attempt, my involuntary stay in the mental health institute, what got me to that point, and how I overcame it. I include heart wrenching stories from others who had suffered and were fighting, or had fought, their courageous battles.

I also included resources for people and of course this forum since it is so vital for us all.

If you would like to read more about my story and how I overcame what I believed was hell. Please visit http://www.unveilingthestigma.com

Some of the proceeds will be going to help fight suicide prevention for which I am now an advocate.