06/27/2025
My heart breaks learning of Mikayla's su***de! We have an EPIDEMIC of SU***DE and VIOLENCE. People, particularly young people, are DYING! Cruelty and lack of compassion is adding to the problem.
Mental illness, just like life, is an individualized experience. The suffering is invisible, and it can be challenging for someone to find the words to describe it. We must try to listen, be curious, and silence our own assumptions. The goal is to understand and have compassion, NOT to apply a label or judge.
Posting impulsively or irresponsibly is both arrogant and dangerous. It can create shame, hopelessness ... motivate su***de and violence. Inaccurate or individualized information can discourage someone from seeking needed help, or create false reassurance. We cannot see our own blindspots, so diagnosis with an online questionnaire or by an untrained individual is foolhardy.
We need to be humble and respectful of the complexity of the human psyche. As a psychiatrist who has worked with patients for over 30 years, I am constantly discovering my own ignorance! I know that I can never fully understand another person's experience, their feelings, their motivations, their choices, or their pain. But I believe we need to try!
