In the United States the entire course of September is recognized across the country as National Suicide Prevention Month, a month dedicated to helping those who are in deep psychological peril as well as a month of awareness and education, informing those who do not suffer from psychological problems that could lead to suicide how to help those who are suffering. This is something that, in my opinion, is an extremely intelligent move in order to help those who are having trouble helping themselves. From my own personal experience, I have realized how important it is for others to be knowledgeable about helping those who are suffering.

During the whole of my senior year in high school, I was stuck in a rut of depression that I just could not bring myself out of. I was anxious and depressed almost constantly, which affected the way that I interacted with my loved ones. At home, when explaining to my parents nearly every day how I felt, I somehow was not able to fully articulate to them at the time what was going through my head, which usually left me feeling more hopeless than optimistic. Even dealing with my friends that I had known since I was grade school was extremely difficult. Whenever I was around them during my senior year, I felt like someone looking through a window. I had so much trouble further connecting with them whenever in their company, I completely froze up and was speechless. However, upon graduating from high school, life ultimately went back to normal.

I was a lot livelier then I had been, and both my family and friends noticed this. As time went by and I began to be able to control my anxiety and depression issues, I became more upfront with my family and friends about what I was feeling at the time, and, when I expressed how I had felt, most of the time it was followed by shock and confusion.

Although some of my family and friends had noticed that I was acting differently, many of them thought that I was completely normal, and that they could not sense that anything was going wrong in my life.

I was stunned when they told me this. I, during my long depression stint, thought that all people around me could see the peril that I was going through. I thought that my attitude changed so drastically that everyone would be able to notice that I was depressed; however, this was not the case.

For those who themselves do not suffer from depression, it is extremely difficult to notice when others are depressed, for a couple of reasons. Because someone has never experienced depression and anxiety, they themselves do not recognize the signs. Additionally, many people such as myself who are going or have gone through depression or anxiety do not openly demonstrate how they truly feel, leaving others out in the cold about how a person with depression really feels.

National Suicide Prevention Month is an extremely good thing, as it allows those who are going through an extremely difficult time to now that others care about them, while it educates others on how to help those who are suffering.