I’m not alone as I sit on my couch writhing with pain over the loss of a friend to suicide. I know that many are asking, “Could I have done more?”
While the community sinks deep into its own version of “depression,” struggling to come to terms with the loss of another beautiful person, I sit and wonder what can be done.
But what is the solution? What is the cause? Suicide is so complex and finding the reason why is not easy.
Is it that we live in a mountain town full of social media posts of “look what I have done today” that causes people to feel left out? Is it that health care is so expensive? Is it that we live in a town where so many tourist come and go with money while our coaches, teachers, nonprofit workers, etc., struggle to pay rent?
Is it that mental health issues are misunderstood? Is it that those who think they do understand blame large-scale shootings on the blanket statement, “It wasn’t the gun; it was that he/she had a mental health issue,” which only causes those with mental health issues to feel even more outcast by society?
Right now, I want to cancel everything and dwell in my sadness of losing another friend to suicide. But I know the best way to honor her is to keep reaching out and keep trying to create kindness and love amid a very harsh world.
Sarah Tescher
Durango
