On 13th June, 2020, bollywood actor Sushant Singh Rajput committed suicide. He was under severe depression due to personal and professional life issues. Here he committed suicide, and suddenly everyone woke up from their dead slumber of ignorance and started talking about issues like nepotism and depression itself.
This might offend a lot of people, but this is the most hypocrite generation I have ever witnessed(which includes me). We live in trends. We don’t hesitate to judge someone’s life without knowing actual facts(and call them things in public). A youtuber rants on tik-tokers, and suddenly everyone becomes his bhakt(including die-hard fans of tik-tok itself) saying, “Ban tik-tok”. And now when somebody is dead(and never coming back), everyone is so much aware and conscious about mental-health issues.
Suddenly everyone is posting, “You can talk to me, reach out to me”, and what good will that “momentary awareness” of yours will do? Maximum people are going with the flow. Now let’s say you belong to the group who genuinely cares, do you really think this “momentary sympathy” will do them(the depressed) any good? Here’s the truth: “Nobody likes to be pitied.” There’s a huge difference between genuine care and sympathy. Ask yourself(and be honest), have you been there for people close to you when they needed you? Even if you weren’t for once, then go help your friends and family first before you try to become a saviour by helping random strangers on internet.
And stop misusing the word “depression”. Scoring less marks, losing a game or failing in some pursuit is not depression. Sadness? Yes, depression? Absolutely not.
Remember that story Shepard boy and the wolf? How the boy called villagers for fun, lying there was a wolf? And when there actually was, no one came and he suffered.
Whenever you use the word depression to describe your bad mood, you leave a subconscious impact on people around. Slowly, this impact reduces the importance and meaning of this serious issue in society as a whole, and when someone is genuinely depressed, people do exactly what they shouldn’t: Be negligent. Some of them don’t even hesitate to mock the person, and trust me, it’s not entirely their fault.
This isn’t something new to me. I lost my cousin brother due to depression. A friend of mine, who was one of the most cheerful and enthusiastic girl I had ever met, became a victim of depression. A close friend of mine, Kashish Shivani once said, “Hope is a trap and a star both.” To be honest I am not naively optimistic(looking at the current scenario), but I believe there’s still hope.
The harsh reality is there will be a lot of times when there will be no one to stand with you, so learn to stand for yourself. Be strong. Be brave. As Jordan Peterson puts it, “Life is suffering, so get your act together.”
And try not to fall for these trends. Be better. I know that you can be. And act when there’s still time. Once someone is gone, you can’t bring them back.
Keep going, never give up.