World Mental Health Day

A few months back, on World Mental Health Day, I came across a social media post — a small video of one odd minute. It’s a collage of photos of a few people who committed suicide. A few of them were also world-renowned individuals.

The strange thing about the collage is that it was made up of the photos that were taken just a day or two before the suicide. And looking at those photos, no one can imagine that these people are thinking of ending their lives. All were with family, friends, enjoying the moments, cuddling, laughing.

After watching it, I understood the importance of having ‘World Mental Health Day’. It definitely is not one of those forcefully celebrated some kind of occasion days.

Lately, there are many things around us putting everyone under some mental pressure. The continuous race we are in — wilfully or by compulsion, job issues, recession, monetary issues, addiction, even the silly ones like not getting enough likes on social media.

We are always running behind something, and once we get that, we run behind something else.

But in all this, the major culprit, I think, is ‘taking excess care of others or thinking too much about others’ feelings’. And this happens mainly in close relations.

We don’t understand the pressure, the load of carrying that relation, always being a yes man, even though we know that we are taken for granted — one day takes a toll and ends in such acts of ending the life.

We should try to ensure that no one gets hurt because of us. If relations are too close, then we should definitely compromise, but then, we should vent it out to someone, somewhere. Keeping it to one’s own and carrying it over the life is not good, neither for that person nor for the people he or she is making those sacrifices for.

When one is taken for granted, people around them think that they can manage it. The behaviour of not letting others know what you are going through and always having a smiley face is dangerous.

Keep in mind that it’s absolutely okay to set boundaries.

It’s okay to get apart, leave the toxicity, sometimes end the relations if it’s not bearable. Ending a life only ends for that particular person who goes away; the world still goes on, this time targeting someone other.