Rapper Styles-P aka The Ghost, recently took to social media with a powerful revelation about life and loss following the suicide of his 20 year-old step-daughter. Styles delivered an emotional Instagram message to reach out to our “paper chasing” culture about the priceless currency of our loved ones.
“…Last month my wife and I lost a daughter and my son lost a sister. My baby girl took her life and there are no words to describe the day to day pain we have to endure and maintain through but in dealing with pain you find yourself dealing with the creator and asking questions and going through emotions most would not understand. So I'm taking this time out to express a few things to y'all because life is short and we are not promised tomorrow…"
Welcome to D- Block, where the D is for Depression.
Suicide is literally happening more on the daily. After a brief dip in the Golden Age that was the 90s (to 10.4 suicides per 100,000), the rate of suicide increased to 12.1 per 100,000 over the past decade. Translation: Around 105 Americans commit suicide daily! Depression and suicidal thoughts happen to the best of us, and they happen more often than we think. In fact, suicide plans and attempts happen way more often in adults 18-29 than other age demographic. Yup. Those with more life left think about ending it way more often than those with less life left.
If you find yourself in a broken-record of negative thoughts, you're not alone. We won't sit here and tell you that your feelings of being alone aren't real. That s#!t is as real as it gets, but help is all around you. If you'd rather not let friends and family into your world, we get that, too. National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is a good place to start, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week: 1-(800) 273-8255. What's that you say? You don't want your friends or family to hear you talk on the phone? Well, good thing they have the LifeLine Crisis Chat at http://www.suicidepreventionlifeline.org, right? No excuses.
You deserve to get better, and there is no better place to start than here, and no better time than right now.
Peace and Love.
ID