Very good points friendly_jacek. I think that so called social media is anything but. There seems to be no bounds for people's nastiness and evil. That is hard enough on local level.... Now you are adding the whole "world" to that. Great. That really is helpful. Another thing that social media does that we really DON'T need anymore... The worship of one's self that is completely unhealthy. What I think, what I say, what I believe, what I do, etc is really not a good thing. It's not that we are not important. We are obviously. But like anything in life it is all about balance. The whole self esteem garbage has not helped either. Trust me in saying that a very high level of "self esteem" can result in quite nasty results. It is about balance. We are losing that more every day. I know someone may think well you are on here using this etc.. but this is the only place I do anything like this. I am not on anything else at all. I stopped Facebook because it really upset me how narcissistic that really was getting. I just did not care for that.
Having said all of that.. People taking their own lives is a very tough subject. It runs counter to all that we know, understand, and what really makes sense to us. Having been there myself at times I can tell you that it is a very harsh place to be. I can still have times that I struggle a fair bit. There have been times where it has been tough for me to understand my fellow man. This amongst several other factors have really pushed me down hard at times. The one thing I have learned to do is to make a strong conscious decision that I will not entertain the idea of not being here. I just take that action right off the table. I will say that just hovering above that can be rather tough. But I have learned to preserve, stay patient, and find a positive focus to help me get back into a better place. I really am very fortunate at the end of the day. But, there just have been times where circumstances and other people make it very hard to keep that realization in focus. A couple of years ago I really started to lose my faith in people. And that really was very hard for me. Having always been a positive person about my fellow man this was quite a reversal. And that was very difficult for me to understand, comprehend, and deal with. That being said, I just dug in and kept on keeping on and found a way through.
I have on a couple of occasions shared my story with patients who were in a very dark place themselves. It really was good and helped them out too. Really quite humbling how my experiences, being totally honest about them, and sharing it with those people that it seemed to really help them. I guess my harsh life has had it's benefits. Hmmm may well be worth it I think. Helping others out has given me a sense of purpose. I know one patient who had multiple sclerosis was really feeling quite down. I went over to the other unit to talk with him. He was having a hard time seeing the TV. I've been there done that too. Anyhow, I talked with him for a good bit. It seemed to help him out. Though I didn't realize just how much until a 3A staff member came over and said, "I don't know what you said to him but it really helped him a whole lot." I guess there's something to all of it at the end of the day. "All things can used" .... If we just allow it.