Mental Health & Suicide

Mental health and suicide are two pretty "taboo" topics to talk about, right? They are also two topics that need to be discussed more than anything.

A couple of months ago, I got off work at 10pm and headed downtown to meet Dusty and some friends at the bars.  During the night Dusty introduced me to one of his friends who had lost his brother to suicide.  We all danced and drank for hours.  At the end of the night, I saw Dusty and that same friend sitting against the wall in deep conversation.  As I got closer, I realized that they were talking about the memories of the friend that had passed.

The longer I listened to them, the more I realized that everyone goes through tough times.  We are all handed different cards in this life, and no one's life story is exactly the same.  Some people go through the exact same situation, but no one handles the situation the same way.

It broke my heart when the brother asked Dusty if he thought that his brother was in Hell.  Christians have convinced the world that if someone commits suicide, they are condemned to an eternity in Hell.  I never agreed with, nor understood why, Christians believe this.  Dusty clearly explained to his friend that his brother had done nothing that would send him to Hell, and he even had a dream about him where he was happy and in Heaven.  Dusty's friend said that other friends have told him about similar dreams of his brother in Heaven, and he said it was very comforting.

Mental health is so important, but it is often overlooked in our society.  We need to step up and check in on our friends and family.  Notice the signs and take action.  You never know what someone else is going through, so check in every now and then and ASK THE HARD QUESTIONS!

One Step Closer...

I am two papers away from my final semester of my junior year of college! There are two days left of finals week and I have one paper due each day. Monday and Tuesday were exam days. Monday's exam did not really matter, I did the math and I could have gotten 0% and still passed the class. That's a great feeling! Tuesday's exam was a little different, after doing the math, I discovered that I needed to get 72% on the final. I got my exam grade back today, and while it may have been my lowest grade all semester...I passed!

Here's a Link to my Last Clinical Experience this Semester :)

Now, to end my procrastination and get back to these last two papers...