Speaker 1: 00:03
YNA is a podcast that focuses on mental health and other aspects relating to what goes on inside a person's head. We are by no means professionals in this field and only aim to make these conversations about mental health easier for the listener. Nothing we say or talk about is professional advice unless explicitly mentioned. If you seek professional advice or experience symptoms of an actual mental health disorder, please contact a professional or visit your closest center for behavioral health. You are not alone.
Speaker: 00:30
So this is gonna be about like 10-minute understanding of uh mental health and really trying to understand what you can do in situations. Or if if you're somebody who struggles with mental health issues every day, I just want to let you know you're not alone in this fight. There's people like you out there, there's treatment, there's ways, there's a lot of different ways to get help. I just want to shed a lot of light on the topic, get people talking about suicide. Uh it's very difficult conversations, very hot button. I've had thoughts of suicide before. I've gone through what it's like to be and feel like that. It's it's a very dark place. It's very, very, very dark place. It's not like it's not like you wake up and you're like, yeah, I feel like killing myself. No. I feel like it gradually takes a toll on you. It's something that slowly it it takes its time, it it finds your weaknesses and attacks it. I believe like I would say like depression feels sometimes like an actual person that just shadows over you and tells you things that you can't do. Like you think to yourself, like, oh, I'm gonna go pick up this guitar and I'm gonna start stringing away, but the other person just feels is telling you no. Have you ever felt anything like that, Sharon?
Speaker 2: 01:51
Yeah, there's been a few points uh in life where I've struggled with depression or anxiety, and it's it's not always the easiest thing to uh to process, therefore, it always is good to like talk to others, kind of open up uh the doors to your emotions because that's so difficult to do though, yeah. Very difficult, if not like one of the hardest things to do for some people. But I think kind of getting your foot in the door to opening your feelings towards other people is kind of like a step in the right direction for people.
Speaker: 02:27
Yeah, yeah. Yeah, it really is. I think what other people can do, if you're someone who doesn't have these kind of feelings, doesn't have these kind of emotions, um, that's okay. That doesn't mean like there's nothing nothing wrong with you. I mean, that's completely understandable. By any means, I think the best thing you can do is listen. That's I believe one of the most important things someone could do. The one thing I wanted to do was just vent. And I think the problem people have is they go right into fixing mode and they're like, Oh, like, oh, go do this or go let me try to fix you. Yeah, let me go. Uh, you should do this or that. Like, no, that's not one I want what I want to hear. I want to vent you, I want you to feel what I'm feeling, um, even though you can't feel it.
Speaker 2: 03:15
Yeah, like that a hundred percent. Sometimes uh just being there for somebody in like a way where you're just kind of absorbing everything that they're saying is really helpful, like a hundred percent. Like you said, like some people don't really need the kind of like oh fix everything mindset in their life. So yeah, it's just important to be a good listener.
Speaker: 03:39
Oh, it's very important to be a good listener. Um, you also never know what someone's going through. I think we all realize that with the passing of the Black Panther Chatwing.
Speaker 2: 03:50
Yeah, yeah. It's crazy how like you can just have like an underlying kind of issue and just kind of on the surface remain to other people's eyes, like normal. That you know, it's okay. Yeah, you're not going through too much.
Speaker: 04:03
And you understand that you're not alone. Like, I think the hardest thing I remember from what I was going through was I felt alone. I felt like nobody felt like that. I felt like I was the only one going through it, or I just couldn't struggle to see that like every a lot of people go through it. Like, the stats are that 300 there's 328 million people in the United States, 20 to 25 percent of those people have depression. 20 to 25 percent of people have depression, yeah. And that's 82 million to be exact. That's a lot of people, yeah. That's a lot of people. I mean, like if you think about it, that's a lot of people, like that's hard. You know what I mean? That's difficult. Oh, yeah. Suicide is also the tenth leading cause of death, which is very difficult to understand. That like that's the power of your brain, really. If you that's that's really the power of your brain. It's all so important to talk about mental health.
Speaker 2: 04:57
Yeah, so so important when it comes to mental health for anybody. There's points in your life where other things are gonna be the main focus, but sometimes you just need to step away and really focus uh on those aspects of your own life. And uh again, with like reaching out to other people, I feel like once you like find the right people, or like once your outreach, like once you really start trying to like find help or just like have a conversation with people. Share feelings. Yeah, it will be once you share your feelings is when you kind of open yourself to this uh like supportive community of people who have been through the same thing. So it is it is really important to kind of keep these conversations uh as hard as they may be, it's important.
Speaker: 05:45
It's very important because a lot of people can't have these conversations. I think sharing your feelings is difficult because the other person can't really understand what you're going through. And if that and you feel like you're just like I always felt like when I talked to somebody about my problems, I always felt like I was ignoring them. You know, like I was like, oh, like I'm venting to this person, this person really doesn't care, this person really doesn't want to listen. Like, I don't I don't know why I'm venting to them. And I think that's hard to think about because like that's one of the most important factors is sharing your feelings.
Speaker 2: 06:18
It's it's it's like yeah, like like in the back of your mind, like you don't want that sort of rejection.
Speaker: 06:25
Yeah, exactly. Yeah, you're just gonna down, yeah.
Speaker 2: 06:28
Yeah, and you're like you're kind of putting yourself in this vulnerable state, yeah. Where like you know, you're opening up to somebody, like showing them like you know, how something's hurting you or how you think about something. And if in any sort of way you feel kind of like they're turning away from the conversation or they're not that interested, it's definitely like a letdown. Yeah, like it's not something that you want to experience. So again, it it is like difficult to open up when, especially when there's just this whole thing of you know, like what okay, like I don't really care, and different types of vibes that you'll get off of people.
Speaker: 07:08
Another important thing is the vibes. Never shut off warning signs. Don't think that hey, I'm sleeping in later, I'm not doing the things I like to do anymore, I am feeling a different way. I just I don't sometimes you just depression, you just think it's normal, so you just don't realize that you are like feeling depressed. There's a lot of warning signs of not eating things, not sleeping, well, sleeping longer than usual, or not having fun, like not doing the things you like to do. I think when you lose, when you lose that feeling of, oh, why? Why do I want to do this? That's that's when it's like uh like you can feel the depression creeping up and like holding you slowly.
Speaker 2: 08:02
Yeah, and like for some people, they they don't even realize it, like they just got in this kind of like habit uh cycle of just doing the same thing over and over again to the point where they think that it's normal, which again, which is why it's important to if you see like these kind of like signs in your friends, or if you notice it in and anybody that you know really, it's important to reach out, you know, make sure that they're okay. Cause again, mental health, especially in today's environment, is one of the most important things that you can have a conversation about, and one of the most important things you could educate yourself about too as well.
Speaker: 08:44
Yeah, and I think the last thing that's one of the hardest, I would have to say, things to do is seek professional help. A lot of people say, like, well, I'm can I can talk to my friends, and talking to my friends helps me. However, your friends have a bias on you, they they know who you are, they know what you do, they know how you live your life, they know what, but getting a point of view from somebody who's never heard of you or never has like talked to you in that kind of sense, but is actually just there to listen, to help you, motivate you to do things that you would want to do, or to just have a conversation that needs to be had. Like there's there's conversations in your life I would have to say that you need to have. And one of that is understanding your feelings. And sometimes that conversation can be with your friends, but sometimes that conversation needs to be held with like a person who does this work for pro of profession, who's really good at what they do.
Speaker 2: 09:46
Yeah, you you definitely don't want to get uh to the point where you're just talking to your friends because it just gets to this point where there's this gray area where they'll end up being like, Oh, they're just like that. Yeah, like oh, that that's the way so-and-so is. Like, uh, I don't really pay any mind to it because you know, they just do these things. So, like definitely having that outside voice or outside, especially professional mindset will definitely help you get on the right track.
Speaker: 10:17
I also think one of the best feelings in the world is when like a friend or someone comes up to you and says, Hey, you're not acting like you usually do. Is everything okay? Like, are you like and that's when you notice that person's like, oh, that person is actually paying attention, like they pay attention to me. Yeah, like they care. Like nobody's no, nobody's just gonna come up to you and be like, Hey, like I've seen you in this rut, and I I don't know, it's weird. Like, I don't I've never seen you act like this. Is everything what's going on in your life? Yeah, and there's people that are out there who are like, I have been having a rough day and that's fine, but if you see a pattern, yeah.
Speaker 2: 10:53
If you if you see a pattern, like and if you're somebody who's like on the outside, kind of looking in, or you know, you see something uh within like your friend who's doing this, like you know, don't don't be afraid to kind of point it out to them. Like meh, it m might be embarrassing for you or for them, but as long as you're kind of leading them to like the right path on getting a better mental state, state of mind, then it's always gonna turn into a positive thing. So don't be afraid to Oh, don't ever be afraid, no.
Speaker: 11:23
Oh no. No. Sometimes it's just good to hear someone say. I also really enjoy the word, I mean, I have it tattooed on me saying everything will be okay. That's a really good phrase. I just I've always stuck with that phrase because like I've been in ruts and I've been in situations in my life where I've been so down that like ah I can't I don't even see a light at the end of the tunnel. And then I hear the words like everything will be okay, and then I remind myself like how many other things that I've gone through in my life and I've pushed through, and I'm here today. This is just another obstacle that I'm gonna get over and I will be better in the next couple days, or I will be better whenever I'm ready to be better. Yeah, you know what I mean? And it's it's just you just I don't want to be alone either because being alone feels so much it it allows depression to grow, in my opinion. Being alone allows you to be with your thoughts by yourself, which is scary. It's a scary place sometimes.
Speaker 2: 12:20
Yeah, I mean, without like a supporting cast uh around you, whether it just be it it's like one friend or a family member, like without that, it's easier to kind of get lost in your thoughts by yourself. Oh, so it's good to keep and also recognize those people around you who keep you grounded.
Speaker: 12:40
Yeah, keeping you grounded is really important. I mean, some things I really like to do, and I know that everyone doesn't have the luxury of doing this. Um, so but if if you can find those little things in life that bring you joy, like my thing is to travel. Like if I'm ever in a rut or I'm ever in a place that I just need to get pulled out of, I try to like I try to travel places to trying new uncomfortable things helps me make my life a little bit better, it helps me change me and push me in the direction I want to go because it's really nice seeing trying things, trying new things, seeing new things. It allows you to get you out of that comfort zone because depression grows in that comfort zone.
Speaker 2: 13:19
It's it's yeah, it it's almost just like like a virus that kind of like spreads.
Speaker: 13:25
It's like it spreads into your voices, and then your voices are saying, You can't do this, you're alone, you're whatever, you're your life, you're never gonna be meant to be anything. Like, and it's the voices, it's literally you. You're the person who throws yourself into your your own mind is telling you your own things. But if you tell yourself, I can do this, I am okay, I can push through this, everything will be okay. Man, that's that's a real if I could say anything, that's a good first step forward. Yeah, like before everything, before listening and shrugging off the warning signs and seeking professional help, before anything, just telling yourself that I can do this, I got this.
Speaker 2: 14:04
Yeah, so important. It really is.
Speaker: 14:08
But thank you for listening, thank you for understanding what it feels like to maybe help someone in this situation, or understanding that this mental health is extremely important and we really do need to shine a light. So I'm going to try to focus a lot of my posts on a lot of different topics. Um, if you have any comments, any thoughts of like any topics that you guys need want to talk about, I would love to hear it. This one was about suicide prevention. Please, please, please, please, please understand that you are not alone in this fight. I'll help you through it. How does that sound? Yeah, sounds good to you? Yeah, sounds great. All right, catch you later.