Gun Violence... The sound of those two words just makes me cringe and breaks my heart. Gun Violence and having it affect a family member/friend is absolutely devastating.
2018 isn't over yet but in this year alone, the gun violence, the stabbings and deaths are at an all time high. I even mentioned it in the summer in a previous Instagram post; "Summer just started and I've already either been affected or know someone who has been affected due to stabbings or gun violence".
Well Summer is over, the crime continues and now it's November 28th and here I am writing a blog because my niece has been affected due to gun violence. It's just so tiring and heartbreaking to have to keep hearing these stories!
Thankfully, she wasn't shot but her best friend who was standing next to her wasn't as lucky. Now, what happens when you just watched your best friend get shot and you're the one to catch her? You're TRAUMATIZED! Again, luckily and thankfully, the best friend survived, but now, what happens when you're the victim who just got shot? You're also TRAUMATIZED!
Now let's rewind just a little bit! A group of teens are out at a school watching a basketball game and when they're on their way out to go to their respective homes, a person or persons decide that it'll be okay to randomly shoot?! Kids can't even go out and enjoy a simple game without having their lives targeted! What kind of world are we living in that we have to continuously wonder when we're out in the streets "will someone hurt me today"?
We now have two 15 year old girls traumatized because of what occurred! Trauma that can lead to many things; not wanting to go out in fear of getting shot again, reliving this moment over and over again in your mind causing it to affect your everyday life, blaming yourself because you feel that it was your fault she got shot, avoiding big crowds in fear of another attack, etc... Why should these girls live with this trauma when they simply went out to have fun at a game?
Let's get more general now.. Gun violence is gun violence, and it doesn't matter what way one puts it. Why do we have to continuously trace back to this topic about finally putting an end to guns?! How many more people have to be injured and dead before guns are finally put to a stop!? Let's backtrack to last year with the Las Vegas shooting and the 58 innocent lives taken. Tracing back to last Valentine's Day and the terrible school shooting that occurred in Stoneman Douglas High School which killed 17 people. And now let's rewind to two weeks ago and the shooting that occurred at Borderline Bar and Grill in California which killed 12 people. .. And I'm just mentioning the deaths, let's not forget the many who were injured and traumatized due to these tragedies. Whether it's one person hurt or numerous, why does this have to keep happening?! How can we make it stop?
Now, with those and other exclusions and exceptions, the shootings, these massacres that continue to happen in our world today tend to occur because of an unstable and unattended Mental Health! You can agree or disagree, but when you read about the shooters, almost always, it is someone who isn't taking care of their mental health. And just to clarify, I'm not defending nor downgrading their actions, however, sit back and think about it; what has happened to this person in their lifetime that led them to the decision they horrendously made? And could it have been avoided had he/she seeked proper treatment?
Mental health often gets ignored because people don't want to seem "crazy" for seeing a therapist or don't want to feel like they can't handle situations that are occuring in their lives. Self Care is very important! Seeking help is very important. Mental health is just as important as your physical health. If you're in dire pain, do you not seek help from a medical professional? If you get hit by a car, do you not seek medical attention? So if your emotional well being is not okay and you know that maybe something isn't right such as having negative thoughts, poor decision making, social skills, etc... Why not get the help early enough to avoid a bigger traumatic problem?
I know it's easier said than done but we're in 2018 and luckily, Mental Health is more common to speak about now than in years before, however, it's still remains awkward for many! There are so many resources out there for everyone; men, women, kids, soldiers, LGBTQ, etc... End the stigma! It's okay to not be okay! And it's even more okay to ask for the help you need!
NO MORE GUNS! MORE MENTAL HEALTH!