Take it or leave it

Don't Say it

I'll begin by saying this will be a totally unpopular chapter and I'm sure I'll get hate for it from my like 5 followers who pay any attention to me at all, but it needs to be said.

Self-harm is not a joke and it isn't a way for you to post on your message board and get attention. It's a very serious matter. I see so many people post on their board about how they're depressed and they want to kill themselves. Then suddenly they're in the hospital cause they tried "but they didn't succeed and are okay" and everyone knows this because magically there's someone who knows their password and has gotten on their account to let everyone know about it. No one knows my passwords to any of my social media accounts. I don't run and tell my entire family my passwords, they're private. The person who magically has gotten on the account, announces that the person tried to kill themselves but didn't succeed, are okay in the hospital, and then magically a day later the person is back on here and perfectly fine as if it never happened. I would assume there's some sort of recovery period from such an event, as well as counseling of some sort to prevent another incident. 

But these people pop back onto social media as if they were off taking a nap. 

It's a cry for attention in a seriously screwed up way. If you suffer from depression it's a constant battle against the voices in your head telling you that you aren't good enough, that you suck, and no one gives a crap about you. It isn't something you make light of and use to get attention. I'm tired of people treating it as a throw away condition "Oh, I suffer from depression." It's extremely serious. Feeling a little sad for a few days isn't depression. Life is difficult on a good day, there are days when you want to throw in the towel and give up on everything, but that isn't depression. Depression is a continuous feeling of not being good enough of feeling sad for reasons you can't explain. It's a constant battle against, "Wow this was a good day I should feel happy about that, but there are so many things that can still go wrong because I suck and I'm useless." You find ways to sabotage anything that might make you happy because you truly feel as if you don't deserve it. 

So stop treating it as a condition you can use for attention, because to those who suffer from it it's a very serious matter and to see people treating it as if it's their go to for attention and validation that they matter, makes things worse for those who truly battle against it every day of their lives.

There have been tons of studies done by those who are psychiatrists and psychologists  and it's a fact they've come to agree on that almost all depressed and suicidal people are closed-mouthed about their depression and those around them often do not have any clue how they're truly feeling and if they kill themselves it comes as a shock. Yes, there are people who are very open about about the fact they suffer from depression, but they don't run around posting on social media that "today I want to kill myself". It's a very private thing to people and if it's something they share, then it's only the people closest to them who know how they're feeling on any given day. 

It is not a joke. 

It is not a way to grab attention or validation that people notice you. 

Stop using it that way. 

If you're sad, then talk to someone close to you who will understand, not strangers on the internet. If you need that much attention try to be an influencer for something positive, not a leech using a serious condition for your five minutes of fame. 

**I have family members and a very good friend who suffer from depression. I'm certainly not an authority, but I've seen how it affects people. I've seen them keep their pain bottled up until it manifests in not nice ways.