As someone who suffered severe mental health issues in high school and college to the point where I contemplated suicide several times, I think I can add to this conversation. I was an athlete in high school who had a couple of options to continue sports in college, but didn’t pursue it because I knew I was unwell.
Counseling has been a key part of my life several times. There is a wide range of quality, and the good counselors or social workers don’t accept health insurance. So I have a lot of thoughts about our system of health care, but I will stop there because while that is an important part of the conversation, I know it will derail the suicide conversation. Nonetheless, I’m not sure the best professionals in this field work at colleges.
My sister is currently struggling in the pandemic as a nurse, and she’s on medication but it’s not really helping. It helps her get through the day at a minimum, but does not resolve the root issues that her life is not great right now for a number of reasons beyond her job. I never took medication because I was very concerned about the side effects (some make you even more suicidal), but I know it helps a lot of people who are in very tough spots and medically imbalanced. That said, I don’t think you can shove medication at someone and make it all better.
Back to college — it is enormously difficult to see past what’s immediately in front of you. Either you, your peers or parents are acting like everything is a fire drill. The next homework assignment, the next track meet or game, the next job if that’s around the corner. It all seems bleak. The only way I survived any of it is I thought to myself, the only option I have is to finish college, get a job and move out of my parents’ house right away. (This is the early 2000s.) So all in all, I guess I still had tiny hopes something was better out there.
Then there are the broader issues of what we value as people, what we value in others, and what is “failure” or “success” in such an unequal society. Again, don’t want to derail, but I think about this often. I have a good paying job, own my own home, have an advanced degree but am single so I'm sure someone out there thinks I'm a failure because I don't have a family, but sometimes you just have to ignore the noise to survive and thrive.
The question is, is there something better out there for these kids suffering? My POV is, of course there is, despite all the current problems out there. But who is helping them see it this way? Or helping contribute to a world that is better for these kids?