Lets talk about Mental Illness

Hey guys. I wasn't gonna talk about this at all as I usually don't like to be too depressing or heavy with my journal entries, I see my role here on Deviantart as an artist and an escape for some who wants to just have a fun reading my stories and polls or just enjoy looking at some art, so I try to avoid heavier topics like MH 370 or the Gaza war and stuff, Im sure there are already many news about that and my input is probably not neccersary, sure these issues are serious but don't think its my role to talk about it. However, I also think its important to bring awareness to a recent news because it MAY be affecting you directly right now, I am of course talking about the death of Robin Williams, yes like many of you, I was also pretty sad about the loss of Robin Williams, if you don't know who he was then you might be like 'I don't get why anyone is sad about the death of an actor' but trust me Im sure like many people who grew up watching his movies, you feel a certain bond with this comedic genius, like a family member just passed away. Especially since I was an only child growing up, I would watch certain movies over and over again, one of them being Jumanji, I loooooved that movie, whenever I was bored and annoying my parents would just pop in Jumanji and I would be silent for the next hour and a half, so pretty much Robin Williams was a bit like an unpaid guardian that my parents hired ok haha? Oh yeahhhh I also MET Robin Williams and his family one time in the Hong Kong airport actually! I couldn't believe my eyes, me and my family were just walking behind him and I was like 'Wait a minute he looks familiar... isn't he my Uncle Williams? The guy who appears everytime I was bored!', but I was too nervous to ask for a photo or signature, and plus he was with his family so didn't wanna disturb his peace. Anyway its sad that he unfortunately took his own life recently. Reports has it that he was suffering from depression and possible drug/alcohol abuse, which was scary, especially since he was a comedian and he seemed so happy in interviews, but it could be a mask or shield to hide his sadness I don't know, I have heard that many comedians ain't very happy in real life. But yeah I'm no expert at this but I know that its a VERY serious and common issue unfortunately.

It's time to raise our voices
Check out this brilliant tribute to Robin Williams, painted by Yuuza!!
On the lethality of mental illness
We were saddened deeply today to hear that Robin Williams appears to have taken his own life. He was a brilliant, creative mind and a voice for humanity.
I've seen a lot of tributes to him over the past hour or so. Many people have posted clips of his work, quotes, and favorite memories. That's great; it's how we honor someone. But, somehow I feel like we're missing the point.
The point is . . . it's not fucking funny.
EDIT: I am not saying that people are making fun of Robin Williams' death. I am saying that some (not all) people are ignoring the cause of it.
Reports have it that Mr. Williams suffered from depression and possible drug/alcohol abuse. I've also read that he had bipolar disorder. Regardless, what plagued him was lethal, and it plagues so many other human beings acro

Aeirmid has started a conversation surrounding the topic of depression, suicide and mental health, if you are suffering from these issues or know anyone who does, please share this with them. It is sad when someone takes their own lives so please raise awareness. Click the journal above to share or read people's story, maybe you find someone who has a similar life to you and you can find out how they fought through hard times. I know that difficult parents and bullying at school is sadly a very common issue.

What about me? Well for me I guess I had a bit of bullying in primary school when I moved to Australia. But it wasn't anything too bad, it was more like my friends were teasing me to make themselves feel better, but I was always polite and kind so I made a lot of friends even to the people who wanted to be mean to me but felt guilty doing it afterwards, I was always taught by my parents that you should not treat people badly even if they are bad to you (I grew up in a Christian family and that was one of ways to live taught by the bible), being evil to evil people would only make things worst and in turn hurt yourself, it was a pretty silly concept to me that I had to treat even the bad people nice but I tried anyway, and for me it worked. I guess I can make that comparison to flame wars, it hardly ever ends nicely right? It usually spirals into big massive fights and both sides act like they are happy and chill but in fact they are both furious. Anyway then I got to high school and went to a totally different school to those bullies/friends and there were no bullying towards me at all from then on, I was very fortunate to go to a pretty laid back school as well I guess, well either its the school or just Australia in general is very laid back. So yeah, Other than me being polite and nice to people, I think another thing that protected me from being potentially bullied was the fact that I liked to draw and was good at what I did , so the bad students saw what I did and respected me because of my skills, art and kindness was my sword and shield. And very fortunate to have pretty decent parents and friends growing up. I didn't realise how fortunate I was till I met other people who told me about their family problems and bullying growing up, I didn't know it was that common and its sad.

Stay strong my people! Remember to click Aeirmid

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