**TRIGGER WARNING: SUICIDE**

In the spirit of Mental  Health Awareness Month, I decided to make a post just discussing the importance of getting help.

Despite the opinion that some of us have about getting help, I’d like to believe that a large portion of us realize how important it is to get help. But again, there are some people who are sadly against it. Here’s are some stats alone that should show you how important getting help really is:

• suicide is the 10th leading cause of death in the US
• In 2017, 47,173 Americans died of suicide
• In, 2017, there was an estimated 1,400,000 suicide attempts

 (stats taken from afsp.org)

Those stats should be an eye-opener on why it’s important to get help. Think about it. These are from 2017…imagine the stats now. There are people in this world walking around with mental disorder(s) but aren’t willing to get the help. Some people haven’t gotten help because they can’t afford it and that’s a very sad case. I believe everyone should have accessibility to some form of mental health care.

I know it’s hard to change the minds of those who don’t believe in getting help or realize the importance of it, but let’s look at some benefits of getting help:

• come up with plans for solving problems
• change behaviors that hold you back
• heal pains from your past
• figure out your goals
• build self confidence

(taken from mentalhealthamerica.net, which I suggest you look at for other info)

One more benefit that wasn’t added is the greatest of all…it could save a life…your life, especially if your mental illness is severe. You may wonder what’s so special about some of these benefits when it seems like stuff that’s simple enough to do on your own. Well, think about it…if it was so simple for you to do it on your own, then why haven’t you? Here are some reasons from psychology today on for why people with depression don’t get help:

• didn’t want others to find out
• health insurance didn’t cover it
• didn’t think it was needed at the time
• didn’t think treatment would help
• didn’t have time
• thought they might be committed or forced to take medicine
• didn’t know where to go for service
• couldn’t afford the cost

There are plenty more reasons, but these are the ones that stuck out to me just because you can see a trend. I, myself fit some of these reasons, but maybe I’ll save that for another post or diary entry. I know one blog post isn’t going to convince someone who’s a strong believer in not getting help, but I hope it did help a few of you see the importance of it. Know that a lot of these reasons for not getting help are nowhere near important as putting yourself first and taking care of you the best you can.

Love yourself and take care of your mental health.