A challenge - Step up and Take Action

Due to recent events in the news, I feel the need to write about something I am passionate about. This comes from a variety of sources and events that have happened during the last year.

This country does not have adequate mental health facilities. We are living in a world where people are sick and do not receive help until it’s too late. We are living in a world where people who are mentally ill are ignored and cast aside. We ignore the signs and when someone goes off the deep-end and goes on a shooting rampage, we are shocked and cannot believe that is has happened. We shake our heads, and in the aftermath of it all, we begin to think about what lead up to such an event. Then and only then, we start thinking that perhaps there were signs presented in which something could have been done. We wonder if the vague comments that were made actually meant something, or the emails that were written were signs of help. We look back and think that perhaps the parents or schools could have done something because there was actually bullying going on somewhere in this person’s life. We look back at the history of illness in the family and wonder if some sort of help could have been given. By this point we are so angry and full of disdain that it doesn’t matter if there were actually signs that a person needed help. By now, we are grateful that this person is off the street….in prison, or perhaps dead themselves.

When do we step up and take action? When do we become proactive rather than reactive? This is why I started the Anti-Bullying page…. So we can become more aware of instances that may arise and perhaps actually we can do something about it. Once a person has gone on a shooting rampage or has done something drastic as murdering another individual in cold blood, it is too late to do anything.

Living with depression myself, I can feel empathy for people who are mentally ill and who need the help. Don’t get me wrong. I completely agree that an individual who goes so far as to kill another human being does not deserve that empathy. They deserve to rot in jail and although I do not like having to pay for the expense of prison time, that is exactly where they belong.

However, I am not talking about the aftermath of such tragedies. I am talking about what should we be doing before that actually takes place? When will we finally see the signs that an individual needs help. We live in a world where we do not want to get involved. Someone else will make that phone call to the hospital or to the police. Someone else will take a stand and defend an individual who is being bullied and will take action. Someone else will take a stand and get someone into counseling. We don’t want people mad at us. We don’t want to take the responsibility of making that stand because it’s not the norm. We don’t want to be that person that everyone looks at and thinks we are making waves for no reason.

There IS a reason. We are living in a world where things are getting closer to home. Suicides are taking place in our schools, murders are taking place in our hometown, and one of these days, I predict that if things keep going in the same way that they are, then we will have another Columbine issue. It’s happening everywhere, and we just sit back and wonder what happened.

Iowa Falls (the small town in Iowa that I live in) no longer has a mental health facility. People who are needing help, have to go out of town, and it’s understandable that they do not want to do that, because it’s far from home and family. In order to even be admitted into a locked unit, a person has to be suicidal and have a plan. What about those people (such as myself, who in all accounts is an intelligent and happy person) who needs the help and counseling, who is not suicidal (yet) and who gets turned away from locked units because the need is not great enough? Would a person have to go out and actually TRY to commit suicide and ACT as if they are homicidal to receive any help? That’s what it is getting to.

So I challenge you, my dear friends. Stop ignoring individuals who show signs of needing help. Stop ignoring the comments in which people say they want to check out. In some cases, it is merely an act of needing attention, but not in all cases. Talk to your children about bullying. Communicate about guns and how people who are good people end up dying from a tragic accident. Stand up to the bullies at school and mostly, be a positive role model for the ones around you. Our children are sponges. They take in everything we say and everything we do. Teach them what is right and wrong by your own actions and your words. Do not teach them about hate. Teach them about empathy, friendship, and standing up for what they believe in. Teach them about being productive citizens in our society and do not ignore them when they show signs of anger and hostility. Do not shrug it off saying that they are just acting like a boy, or are having one bad day. Talk to them. Share with them. Love them. Our children are our future. It is up to us to shape them the way they should be.