So I will just get straight to the point! I tried to kill myself but thank God I was saved and I'm here today to fulfill my dreams and to be here for the loved ones in my life. I realize that I am a child of God, I am a Queen, I have a purpose, I do matter, and I am beautiful, gifted, and talented! Thank God and Thank God for my family, my friends, prayer warriors, medication, and therapy. I asked you today, what does mental illness look like? It looks like you, me, and anyone in the world. I have attempted suicide a couple of times in my life and as early as my childhood, I suffered from mental illness. I never knew why or what was happening to me. I've had some very happy moments in my life and I've had some very traumatic moments too. Even when I'm happy, mental illness strikes, and for no apparent reason. In the past, I couldn't understand it, it was unexplainable, an ongoing battle from therapy to hospitalization. After several years of going through this, finally I went to see a specialist and was clinically diagnosed.
Now I understand in my life what I need to do to make sure that I am well and safe. If you suffer from mental illness please get help it's no joke. If you know someone who suffers from mental illness, I'm asking you today to be sensitive to what you say to people who are mentally ill, it could trigger them. Be kind, be patient, be thoughtful, and don't judge them. Instead, love them, support them, and get them help. We are not exempt from mental illness. While some experience mental illness only once in their life (depending on the illness, environment, life stressors, and genetics), others battle mental illness for the rest of their lives. Some of us think that we don't have a problem and truly believe that everyone else is the problem. Unfortunately, these myths and illusions force us to suffer in silence and not seek treatment. Mental illness affects everyday functional people, and it's not limited to the homeless man talking to himself. It impacts a person’s emotions, perceptions, and behaviors. Afro-Americans suffer from mental illness just like their white counterparts. Afro-Americans are more likely to be at risk for developing a mental condition than any nationality. In fact, when you think of everyday stressors, systematic racism such as police brutality, education and health care gaps, and sexism that impacts Afro-American women.
This is a perfect time to shed light on what many deem a nonexistent problem. Schizophrenia, post-traumatic stress disorder, bipolar disorder, major depression, generalized anxiety disorder, dissociative identity disorder/multiple personality disorder, bulimia, ADHD, OCD, and social anxiety are examples of mental illnesses that people battle daily. Mental illness is just as serious as any other disease and those affected by it should not be judged or outcast. Mental illness is a flaw in brain chemistry, not a character flaw, a rich people problem, or a white people problem. Don't be part of the problem, get educated and help someone today!
Please scroll down and see the list of people who have committed suicide or have tried. Please also scroll down to see images of them as well. May they find healing and may they rest in peace!
Oprah, Halle Berry, Tamar Braxton, Fantasia, Drew Barrymore, Elton John, Owen Wilson, Princess Diana of Wales, Eminem, Mike Tyson
Producer | Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations
Died June 8, 2018, at age 61, by hanging himself
Self-made millionaire, Actress/Secret Lives of Women. Play Boy Bunny
She died May 18, 2018, at age 47, by jumping out of a 25th-floor hotel window after first throwing her 7-year-old son out of the window in a murder-suicide
Died September 5, 2014, at age 25, by hanging herself
Singer-songwriter, Soundtrack | Moulin Rouge!
Died on April 5, 1994, at age 27, of a self-inflicted gunshot wound; his body lay undiscovered for at least 3 days.Â
Soul Train Host, Soundtrack | Nutty Professor II: The Klumps
Died February 1, 2012, age 75, of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.Â
Died May 13, 2018, age 69, of a drug and alcohol overdose
Actress | Some Like It Hot
Died August 4, 1962, age 36, of an overdose of barbiturates
Singer from the group Milli Vanilli, Actor | Das Erbe der Guldenburgs
Died April 2, 1998, age 32, of an alcohol and drug overdose
Died on January 30, 2018, at age 35, by hanging himself from a tree in a local park
Writer | What Men Want, "This Is Us" and "Hood Adjacent with James Davis"
Died June 9, 2020, age 39 by hanging herself
Was an Oscar winner and 4-time Oscar nominee.Â
Died on August 11, 2014, at age 63, by hanging himself.
