In this week's blog post, I chose to use the
recent death of Robin Williams as a platform for a call to action. This will be
my opinion only that has been formed by over 22 years spent (as an observer of
life) in Emergency Medical Services. You are free to agree or disagree with my
commentary, but I feel that this is a golden opportunity for us all to have a
national conversation about behavioral health.
Not just for a few weeks after his death, but for all time.
As the days passed, we learned that Mr.
Williams died from an apparent suicide (the medical examiner's official cause
of death has not been released yet). We
were also informed by the mainstream media that he struggled for many years
with both depression and addiction for which he sought help several times. It is not for us to judge why, or even seek
the exact reason, Mr. Williams took his own life. In the end, only he truly knows that. Maybe he left a note, and maybe he didn't. What is more important is that a high profile
person has brought both the topics of suicide and depression into the national
spotlight once again.
Every year Americans spend probably into
the billions on preventative maintenance for our homes and cars. We even spend enormous amounts of money to
maintain our body and spirit in the form of gym memberships, yoga classes,
swimming, running, and organized sports.
Moreover, we have started to take up green living as a way to improve
the position of our overall health.
However, I feel we invest very little in the preventative maintenance of
our own behavioral health before it becomes a serious issue. Let me show you what I mean.
Let's say for instance that you are at your
place of employment and a co-worker starts to complain of sudden onset chest
pain and difficulty breathing. He/she
appears very sweaty, pale, and cool to the touch. I am pretty sure that most people would get
involved and call 911 for an ambulance in order to get this person help very
quickly. Now take that same person, a
normally upbeat and productive worker, and put them in a different set of
circumstances. Over several weeks you
notice that this person becomes socially withdrawn, angry at life, and his or
her work performance has started to slip.
How many people can honestly say that they would feel comfortable
approaching this person to ask them what is wrong. Would we be more apt to shy away out of fear
that this person would lash out or tell us to mind our own business? I leave that up to you to decide how you would
work through this scenario.
All too often when it comes to behavioral
health or imbalances of the mind, the subject gets swept under the rug or
locked behind closed doors. This
attitude is something that is very prevalent in the fire service. To seek help in this arena is seen as a sign
of weakness. Therefore, many firefighters would rather suffer in silence than
to admit they need help. I find this to
be also true for our society as a whole.
If you struggle with a mood disorder such as depression or even if you
feel mentally out of sorts, I implore
you to seek out a behavioral health specialist who is qualified to guide you on
the road to mental wellbeing. Being that we live in a high stress society, it
would not hurt to do a spring cleaning of the mind every once in awhile. Also,
if you know someone who seems to be struggling with daily life, take the chance
and say something. They will thank you
for it later.
Robin Williams left us with a tremendous
body of work as both an actor and a comedian. His God given talent to entertain
was a true gift. He was also very public
about his battle with addiction and depression.
His life, and death, can be the greatest lesson (gift) to us all. I offer my sincerest condolences to his
family and hope that one day they will help to inspire a dialogue about mental
wellbeing and self care strategies to that end. This can be his greatest legacy that will last
for the ages. Let us all learn from this
somber moment in our history as well as challenge the national
conversation. We are placed on this
earth for only a moment and it should be our mission to leave it a little
better off than we found it. Life is one
big lesson in learning, so do just that.
"Everyone is my teacher. Some I seek. Some I
subconsciously attract. Often I learn simply by observing others.
Some may be completely unaware that I'm learning from them, yet I bow deeply in
gratitude."
-Eric Allen
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