In 2017, a gunman opened fire on a country music festival – from a hotel overlooking it in Vegas. An absolute tragedy of major proportions.
I remember listening to the press conferences of the authorities involved – the police, the politicians, the city officials – & they all said the same thing: we won’t stop searching until we find the motive.
Having just gotten into MH I thought to myself – harm to ourselves…harm to others…are two of the biggest symptoms we hear abt when it comes to dysregulated nervous systems (what some oftentimes bucket into “disorder”), & so if those are some of the most common symptoms, why is it the only thing we seem hell bent on finding when tragedies occur – is the MOTIVE.
Maybe this wasn’t some yr long plot to get back at someone or some thing.
Last year I spoke to the Nevada Narcotics Officers Association, in Vegas. I shared on here that there was a presentation before mine, abt what they’d learned from that shooting. Still no definitive motive 4+ yrs later. But one hell of a trauma filled story of the shooter.
Why bring this up now? Last post was abt the young boy on LI we lost to suicide from Patchogue-Medford. In the school’s letter…& the news coverage that followed…here’s what was made clear: We lost a young boy tragically to suicide: he was athletic, talented, musical – BUT, he was suffering from depression.
Complex topics do not have simple solutions or explanations. People do not die by suicide simply “bc of depression.” There is a life, there are circumstances, there is an accumulation of STUFF.
Here’s the issue: when the simplified narrative of depression is the REASON shared for suicide, two things set us back: 1) those who don’t have “depression” don’t think they/their fam, are susceptible. 2) Ppl avoid going to get checked out for fear of the label & what it potentially means.
I know these takes are well-meaning. But if we simplify & we don’t educate, we lose more ppl, not less.
