Suicide Awareness Month…Reflections From The Kitchen Sink

Melinda Campbell

I started this piece many times. The topic is one that’s important to me for a lot of reasons, but there’s no comfortable way to address suicide. As we close September and Suicide Awareness Month, it is important for us to look at its significance.

I feel sometimes people get trendy with their talk. “Mental health awareness” is one of the cool throw-around phrases these days. Social media has made it commonplace for us to see online snippets—you know, the single screen motivational statements or educational tidbits. Lots of folks can say words once reserved for those working in the psychological sciences. However, pronouncing words or assigning their partial definitions to pieces of life can be misleading. You can think you’re an expert in matters that go much deeper than their companion glossaries. 

You don’t have to try very hard to find some famous face suicide victims. Robin Williams is one who comes to my mind often. So many of us were shocked by his death. I remember watching interview after interview of people who thought he was happy. The man who made millions and millions of people laugh for decades couldn’t maintain his own personal contentment due to mental and physical health obstacles. Only a few people closest to him knew of his struggles. His world was his stage, and he played his public persona role well. In some ways, all of us do that. 

I often say, you don’t know what you don’t know. I have some people very, very close to me who have experienced the depth of despair with suicide: widows and children of people who have committed suicide and people who thought about or attempted suicide. I hope in our thirst to appear knowledgeable we don’t skip the core of the matter which is people’s need to be seen, heard, and valued and we don’t place more value on the head matters than we do the heart ones. The old cliche “you can’t see past the end of your nose” is all too common, I’m afraid, in our egocentric world. 

According to the Journal of the American Medicine, we are currently experiencing the highest suicide rate since 1941. COVID isolation and the full range of problems is has caused are at the root of many of those cases. There could be much debate on some topics here, but sometimes debate isn’t what is most needed. People need help, and society needs to be truly aware. 

My love to my friends who have been touched by this issue. 

Just today I read the following statement about suicide in the military. I included the link to it and one of the statements I read. Military suicides have increased by as much as 20% this year compared to the same period in 2019, and some incidents of violent behavior have spiked as service members struggle under COVID-19, war-zone deployments, national disasters and civil unrest. Teresa

If you or someone you know may be struggling with suicidal thoughts, you can call the U.S. National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 800-273-TALK (8255) any time day or night. 

Melinda Campbell – All Reflections from the Kitchen Sink posts are written by Melinda Campbell. Melinda is a retired educator who currently focuses her efforts on raising her two teenaged boys, advocating for individuals with special needs and against drunk driving, and serving in her local community. New Kitchen Sink Merchandise-Click Here?