Hawkins: Sharing your crisis and situation with others can help you cope
- Jun. 4, 2012
- 0 Comments
- udkne.ws/NIwzKD
Have you ever gone through a situation you don’t think anyone can possibly understand? Feeling alone isn’t uncommon. I’ve been there. It’s tough.
What’s even more tough is when feeling alone goes so far as to become destructive. Suicide is the third leading cause of death for 19 to 24 year olds and the age range where the majority of suicides are committed according to the National Institute of Mental Health.
You may think that you are one in a million, but that still means that there are 7,000 of you on Earth. You aren’t alone!
There are so many people who maybe aren’t you, but they have things in common with you.
We all go through some tough situations at some point in our lives and, as the song “Lean On Me” goes, “We all need somebody to lean on.”
Someone, somewhere is always there for you, you just need to know where to look.
For some people, a best friend is sufficient. They’ll listen to all of your problems and help you find a plausible solution or a good distraction.
For others, a parent, sibling or other family member plays the role of a confidant.
Everybody has their own style to cope with certain situations, but sometimes it’s not so simple.
We’ve seen the stories play out in movies, read them in books or maybe lived through them where someone tries to commit suicide, is sexually abused, bullied or has a disorder but their friends don’t know what to do. In situations that could be dangerous or life threatening, who do you turn to? Kansas has a series of crisis hotlines that cover nearly every topic one could imagine. To name a few, there are suicidehotlines.com/kansas.html, overcomeyoured.tripod.com/id16.htm, and www.kcsdv.org/ksresources.html.
To find hotlines for other disorders or other states, Google: your state, the problem, “hotlines.”
By reaching out and talking to someone who specializes in your type of problem yet keeps your identity confidential, you can truly open up and feel listened to. Most such centers are manned by volunteers.
Don’t hesitate and don’t feel like your problem isn’t important enough or that you aren’t important enough. You are important, and that’s exactly why I’m writing this today.
Your life and well-being is worth so much more than what a small column by an unknown writer can express. Open up to those resources that can help you make it through those tough situations unscathed.
Hawkins is a sophomore in journalism from Scranton, Kan.
