Beyond the Lights

I've been wanting to see the movie Beyond the Lights since it was in theaters, it seemed like a really cool movie.  Finally I sat down and watched the movie after I saw that it had hit Netflix a while ago, and I must say that I thoroughly enjoyed the movie, and not necessarily for the movie itself but for the underlying message, depression and suicide.  Depression is a major illness that affects so many individuals, sometimes they are aware they are suffering from the illness and sometimes they don't until it's too late.  Suicide seems to be growing at a rapid rate, so many people not aware of the fact that they are suffering from depression turn to suicide to stop all the pain they may be feeling in their lives.  In the African American community, the take on mental illness is the worst.  The show Empire touched on the seriousness of mental illness last season and how in the African American community we feel that mental illness is not something that affects us, that it is a "Caucasian disease." But just like so many other things in life, mental illness has no ethnicity, no color, and it's time to spread awareness of mental illness and how it effects all ethnicity.

So many times depression is brushed under the rug and family and friends tend to ignore the signs that their loved one may need help.  We tend to make excuses for it, tend to overlook all of the signs, and refuse to get help.  In the movie Beyond the Lights, the young lady Noni in an attempt and a cry for attention, a cry for help she attempted to end her life, and instead of seeking help for the young lady, her mother brushed it off, made excuses for her attempt at suicide, and when confronted by someone to get Noni help her mother stated that she didn't need any help, she was fine.  Yes you may be saying that this is only a movie, but this happens everyday more than we realize. It is time that we realize the seriousness of mental illness instead of just brushing it off and making excuses.  Mental illness is something that can cause a fatal end if we don't take it serious.

Individuals suffering from depression will overlook the signs as well as or being afraid of what others may think.  Some people see depression and other mental illnesses as a sign of weakness so they attempt to go on like everything is okay, attempt to hide what is going on.  Taking on so much and letting the fear of actually suffering from depression can make us feel like it is getting in the way of what's going on around us.  One of the songs from the soundtrack "Don't Let Me Down" by Amel Larrieux says what a lot of us think at times "Wish I had someone whom I could lean on/Cause everybody's always counting on me."  We get so caught up in doing for others, and being there for everyone that in the end we end up shorting ourselves and suffering in the long run.  Because we are doing for others we sometimes miss out on the signs that we are suffering and we need someone to lean on as well. It's time to wake up and pay attention to the signs, somebody's life could depend on it.

Stats source: 

• healthline.com
• save.org