NAMI is the national alliance on mental illness. They are the nation’s largest grass roots mental health organization. Taylor Bennet from NAMI wrote an article about how to support and listen and potentially help a friend who expresses feelings of wanting to die. Suicide is heavy. It is not easy to think about and it is not easy to talk about, especially with those you care about. The most important thing to remember is to talk about it. Don’t avoid it, don’t graze over it, don’t try to talk about something else. Listen. Confronting those thoughts out loud with someone who cares for them impacts someone’s ability to get the help they need before reaching a crisis.
If “burnout” was not something you heard about prior to the pandemic, 2020 sealed the deal in ensuring we all knew what burnout looked and felt like. I can still remember images of nurses and doctors with deep indents on their faces from wearing masks for endless hours while trying to save those battling COVID. I also specifically remember a picture of a mom crouching in her kitchen with her head in her hands. The caption noted that she had not bathed or changed clothes in a few days because she was trying to care for all of the “littles” (babies and toddlers) in her home without adequate support during the pandemic.