Mental Health + Etika

[thechallenger88]

By now I can assume that many people have heard about the sad and tragic death of Youtuber Etika. He was only 29 and lost his battle with depression, which lead to him passing away. Many people don't realize what depression is or how it exactly effects people, so I hope I can explain a little bit. Depression is a chemical imbalance in the brain, which causes people to feel sad and alone. You would also find yourself disconnecting from others, not doing activities that you love anymore, and potentially thoughts of suicide. Personally I have gone through depression before. I am a 15 year old Jr. Firefighter with my local VFC, and I'm just outside of Pittsburgh. Normally my township that I run calls with doesn't have too many exciting or bad calls, but every once in a while we have a string of bad calls where people get hurt, and sadly people die. For me, that was early March of this year, which I responded to a Motor Vehicle Accident ( Motorcycle vs Pickup Truck ), and sadly, I lost my first patient. Even today I can still remember everything about that call; everything I did, everything once the coroner arrived, even when I got back to the station. Personally I never reached the point of thinking about suicide, but it took me a good two months to get over this call. Thankfully I had everyone at the firehouse behind me to help, along with my family at home and friends; to which many people don't have. Many people don't have others in their life to help them and talk to them. But sadly for some, many have people who will make it worse by saying "get over it" of "you'll be fine", but the grim reality is by saying that you are not helping, you are harming. This subject does really hit home for me, and this isn't a joke or something to mess around with. You never know who could be struggling and who could actually be crying out for help. If you see some kid at school sitting alone, invite him to your table or friend group for lunch or recess (if you're younger). If you see someone at work not acting right, try talking to them and may ask them to get coffee or come over for the football game that weekend as a friend. It may not seem like it, but the little things matter. I can guarantee that EVERYONE on this server wants to be treated like human, like they have a friend they can run to, like they have family they can love and be loved by. I know I do. For everyone on the GamingLight Community, be there for each other. Be the one to make that small act that could save someone's life, whether it be you are a continent away or only a few miles. Be the change this world needs, help someone, because many people don't know what that feels like.

If anyone is struggling with depression or any other mental health issues and needs someone to talk to, don't be afraid to contact me through Forums or Discord, I am always here to help if you're comfortable with talking about stuff.

Thank you all, make the world a better place and have a great day!

---SM Roman Gardner 1A88

---Trooper Gardner 1T

[Jeff Fargo]

We need to take things like this very seriously. 

Suicide is not a joke.