With the sudden and tragic suicide of Robin Williams, the conversation surrounding depression and the depths of it’s stranglehold on a person is back in the conversation. We are now having that conversation again about what really needs to be done and how much time needs to be spent with the individual trying to get the person truly mentally healthy. As much as I feel for his family and friends and anyone who knew him well, this situation had hit home for me well before Mr. Williams sadly took his own life. 

One of my dear friends of fourteen years decided that he could no longer bear the burdens of life and took himself away with fatal gun shot to the head. The news reached me and it hurt my soul, because at last I talked to him and had gotten updates from family about him, he was doing well, working and gearing up for joining the military. So it was truly a shock to my system to learn that things deteriorated so quickly that he chose to end his life, instead of fighting for survival and getting ahead in life.

The reality is the unknown ones who take their lives never make the big headlines like the superstars who take their lives; however, the common thread among them all is a deep sense of worthlessness, incomplete, alone, and a deep sense of despair. I hope people understand that this issue is an epidemic that happens much more often than people realize. In the African American community this has been an issue for decades, in the LGBT community it still plagues us as one of the most common forms of death that befalls us. 

I challenge every one to take a little time and make sure someone you care about, or even someone that you might not know so well, is okay. Because you never know the impact you can have on a person just by checking on them, talking to them, engaging them and letting them know that no matter how worthless they think they are there is someone who cares, even if it’s just a little bit, it can save lives.

#My brothers/sisters keeper…