Out of the Darkness walk raises awareness for mental health

By Sydney Peshon

Staff Writer
Sydney.Peshon3743@mb.rctc.edu

You’re a student at RCTC. You have papers to write and tests to take that impact your impending future, maybe that of which you’re unsure of. Maybe you live with your parents or have a job to sustain an apartment. Maybe you’re dealing with a rocky relationship or coping with the crushing comparison of not having friends at all.

Do any of these things stress you out?

Maybe your relationships with your parents is on the decline, or your aging body is groovier and more pocketed than it used to be. You don’t know what your purpose is, and it’s tiring to go through a taxing grind for no reason in sight.

Perhaps this has encroached on your ability to do things or even think. It’s tiring to get up in the morning or even play with a pet. Your thinking machine needs repair, but you lack the recourses to do it yourself. That darn tired feeling makes you want to put it off. The world is perpetually raining and an impending cloud of doom insults you every time you step outside.

You no longer understand how people think Û why are they laughing? You feel alone, and it’s even more miserable to be alone in a crowd of people. So you stay at home. You isolate and think, questioning things. Why doesn’t Toby Maguire age? Why am I so alone in the world? Should I trade everything for a suspended sleep?

On April 29, students and Rochester civilians alike engaged in the Out of the Darkness suicide walk to show support for those bogged down by depression, stress, mental illness, and pain individual to each person.

According to the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, suicide is the fourth-leading cause of death for adults between the ages of 15 and 64 years in the United States, taking more lives than war, murder, and natural disasters combined. Out of the Darkness walks are to remind people that they are not alone in their feelings.

Volunteers and life supporters helped raise more than $1,000 toward research, helping suicide survivors, providing education programs, and advocating for public policies.

The American Foundation for Suicide awareness hopes to diminish the suicide rate by 20 percent by 2025, saving thousands of people Û some of which you may know. If you want to participate in the next walk or donate, go to afsp.donordrive.com.