Don't read this

If all you are hoping for in life is being "safe" by always sticking with the crowd, don't read this. It will be a waste of time. But if you are willing to honestly and freely share your feelings and experiences with others, no matter what they think about you, then you are more than welcome. That's what we do at the new World Mental Health Forum . Because obviously, most of our traditional, everyday patterns of behavior need a fundamental update before we can even hope to see any kind of progress. And you may always want to remember, too: You are under no obligation to accept someone else's narrative about you. — Angela Cox . Not even your own.

Dear people, Tuesday, January 2, 2024 and it's a painful start for me into the new year, reading about ongoing, heartbreaking accounts of suicide. Of course, life doesn't care about our calendar and of course, it continues just the way it always has, from the last day of the previous to the first day of Earth's new circle around the sun. But seriously, no matter how much we may join in demanding a "Zero Suicide Society", what's going to truly change our collective experience of life if not our personal attitudes towards each other?

Debi Roberts MA Ed , for example, writes: "As a suicide prevention charity, we talk with teachers all the time. At a recent conference, when we asked a room of 250 educators how they were doing, 11 shared that they were or had recently been struggling with suicidal ideation. Eleven! The number should have been ZERO. It should always be zero!" https://lnkd.in/dDBFKKS6

So far so true, regrettably. But when did you last, knowingly or unconsciously, deepen someone's yearning to simply leave this planet rather sooner than later if it were possible to do so without seriously hurting anyone? And unless you are particularly careful and interested in how YOU personally are contributing to the state of worldwide depression all of us are finding ourselves in, do you think they'd let you know? As in: "Excuse me, but all of my life has been really difficult for me so far and continues to be, especially right now. And instead of being really helpful and refreshing, all you do for heartless reasons is feeding my more or less constant death wish."

Think about it for a moment: Depression is the biggest cause of disability, worldwide. That's ALL of us, not just a few, who are constantly blamed for simply not being "resilient" enough or even "mentally ill". Let it sink in. No need to rush. Depression is the biggest cause of disability, worldwide. "There's only so many traumas a person can withstand until they take to the streets and start screaming," filmmaker Woody Allen points out in Blue Jasmine (2013), starring Cate Blanchett and Alec Baldwin.

And upon turning 80 in 2016, he said: "I don't believe in the Nietzschean notion that what doesn't destroy you makes you stronger. You see these soldiers come back with PTSD; they've been to war and seen death and experienced these existential crises one after the other. There are traumas in life that weaken us for the future. And that's what's happened to me. The various slings and arrows of life have not strengthened me. I think I'm weaker. I think there are things I couldn't take now that I would have been able to take when I was younger."

We can all, much quicker than we think, be the proverbial last straw that breaks the camel's back. But especially those working in Mental Health and Wellbeing shouldn't have to constantly be reminded of it. That's how, in part, our then 18 years old daughter Lisa was, literally "professionally", lost.

And in my lifelong experience, too, those who realize that they were acting as not much more than an additional burden on someone else's back never apologize and change their behavior, at least not for long. Instead, they keep being who they are and doing what they do, mostly to themselves of course. Because the trauma of suicide not only impacts those who decide to leave and those who are left behind – bewildered, deeply hurt and feeling deserted – but also those who at least sense or even clearly know that they've been part of the process.

So if you think you might have been instrumental in any way in someone losing all faith and hope regarding any kind of future in this world, did you apologize at the earliest possible time and try to begin a conversation of healing? Mostly healing yourself again, that is, from the character patterns that got you into this unnecessary situation in the first place?

While humbly and patiently discovering the truths of OUR personal lives, let's not simply be content with exchanging dead generalities – of which we all know a few and are able to quite conveniently hide behind – but courageously talk about living details. After all, they already happened and are now indisputable facts. And it's only by acknowledging and analyzing them that we can save ourselves from having to go through more of the same over and over again until our lessons are learned. Life is rather strict that way, as otherwise our time on Earth would be useless in terms of personal growth.

Mental Health And Wellbeing Without Stigma

IT'S NOT YOUR FAULT

But we can change our brains by changing our minds

That's our theme for World Mental Health Forum (WMHF) 2024 in the U.S. and online around the world: A worldwide gathering from October 3–10 each year, with brilliant talks and discussions, workshops and seminars, music, art and fun, both online and in person wherever, just like the Olympic Games, we are invited to come.

Help us build it by donating the equivalent of sharing a coffee via PayPal https://lnkd.in/dsu9e37M. And if you wish to be part of the program and present your work to a worldwide audience, you are welcome to get in touch at office@worldmentalhealthforum.com.

World Mental Health Forum . Establishing a global exchange of most up to date information and best practice. Because mental health and wellbeing are everyone's business. For more information on how to join forces and work together, please get in touch at office(at)worldmentalhealthforum.com. A 100% charitable initiative rather than a self-serving enterprise.

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