![]() Or maybe we just don’t know what to say, so we offer solutions like “You have so much to be grateful for.” Or, “Go outside and get some fresh air. Maybe it makes us uncomfortable and we just want all this to go away, or for that friend to get over it. ![]() If we’re honest, we might realise we don’t necessarily know how to be there for our own selves, how to meet our own thoughts and emotions. Many people, for no fault of their own, (maybe even the majority of people) simply do not know how to help and really be there for those feeling overwhelmed in life. ”īut the real question here is, what do we, as a community, do about all this? How do we actually meet those people that we share our living rooms and offices with? Those people feeling desperately overwhelmed that we share a classroom with? Our own children, friends and partners? The Mental Health Foundation reports that, “These disorders are in fact the leading cause of health loss amongst women in NZ. And although women may not suicide as often as men, they are more likely to experience, and therefore be living with, anxiety and depression than their male counterparts. Seriously, there are more men taking their own lives because of psychological distress than dying from stroke, car accidents and diabetes. For non-Maori men, suicide is only superseded by heart attack as the leading cause of death. To put these stats into perspective - the Ministry of Health reports that, amongst Maori men, only heart attacks and lung cancer caused more death than suicide. And this number is on a steady yearly rise. The stats certainly do shed light on the staggering reality of our mental health issue - (and I say “our” because it’s not just a matter of telling those struggling to deal with it, but a question of how we all come together to meet this issue.) In NZ, there is an alarming increase in the number of suicides, with 660 people killing themselves in 2016/17. They make us pause and consider our own lives and what we might do differently to support those in such severe distress that taking their own life seems the only way out from under. In death they have brought more attention to this issue. In fact, as I write this, I can immediately think of at least two people who recently found the struggle too much to bear: Anthony Bourdain and Greg Boyed. And it seems, on the whole, that we are becoming more attuned to the increase of anxiety and depression so many of us are now experiencing, either first-hand or as a friend or family member. Mental Health Awareness Week is approaching here in NZ.
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