Caught up in all the hoopla of Breast Cancer Awareness Month is another important awareness day....National Depression Screening Day was 11 Oct. I'll be honest, I never knew there was a day dedicated to depression screening. It wasn't until I was reading cnn.com that I noticed the article about getting screened and sharing stories.
Reading the quick article made me reflect on my own bout with depression/bi-polar disorder. I was diagnosed with depression at the age of 16, although I can remember feeling depressed WAY before then.
It also made me think back to a conversation I had with @AngryBlkManDC on twitter a year ago. We were discussing mental illness in the black community. We agreed that there is a stigma when a minority goes to get screened/seek help.
In our culture we are taught to take all of our problems to the Lord in prayer...including mental illness. If you go to the "shrink" we are somehow creating more problems and not trusting God. That's a bunch of malarkey!
God gave those "shrinks" the education and practical experience needed to help folks who are mentally ill. Everything good thing comes from Him and I can attest seeing someone for help is a good thing.
I remember laying in my bed after popping a handful of pills, praying to die. God allowed me to live and then my mother called 9-1-1 after she realized what I had done.
It was then that I got the help I needed. God put me in that position to talk to someone and for a while, rely of medication to stabilize what was going on inside of me.
By seeking help I learned ways to cope with what had happen in my life, as well as provide me with exercises in case I ever felt that way again.
I know plenty of folks who have succeed in killing themselves because they didn't seek help. They fell into the thought that out people don't seek doctors of help, only God.
Today, I wear a green ribbon which symbolizes depression awareness. What color are you wearing?
Reading the quick article made me reflect on my own bout with depression/bi-polar disorder. I was diagnosed with depression at the age of 16, although I can remember feeling depressed WAY before then.
It also made me think back to a conversation I had with @AngryBlkManDC on twitter a year ago. We were discussing mental illness in the black community. We agreed that there is a stigma when a minority goes to get screened/seek help.
In our culture we are taught to take all of our problems to the Lord in prayer...including mental illness. If you go to the "shrink" we are somehow creating more problems and not trusting God. That's a bunch of malarkey!
God gave those "shrinks" the education and practical experience needed to help folks who are mentally ill. Everything good thing comes from Him and I can attest seeing someone for help is a good thing.
I remember laying in my bed after popping a handful of pills, praying to die. God allowed me to live and then my mother called 9-1-1 after she realized what I had done.
It was then that I got the help I needed. God put me in that position to talk to someone and for a while, rely of medication to stabilize what was going on inside of me.
By seeking help I learned ways to cope with what had happen in my life, as well as provide me with exercises in case I ever felt that way again.
I know plenty of folks who have succeed in killing themselves because they didn't seek help. They fell into the thought that out people don't seek doctors of help, only God.
Today, I wear a green ribbon which symbolizes depression awareness. What color are you wearing?
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