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• published: 09 Sep 2016
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Yesterday Kids Help Phone announced that 1 in 5 Canadian youth have seriously considered suicide in the past year. I'm neck deep in another project right now, but I wanted to take a moment to speak to this. Mental health must be considered on the same level as physical health. One step toward that would be having a kind of 911 number that is specifically for mental health emergencies. Toll free numbers are great but they fall short in that people can't easily recall them. Having a easily recalled three digit number would be greatly helpful not just for mental health sufferers in crisis, but for the bystanders who might be able to effectively help if they had a number they could remember and call. I wrote a little piece about it. I didn't have time to do a fancy video or put together music, but the subject is important to me and I couldn't say nothing. Hopefully I can revisit it someday and properly dedicate myself to it. Audio is attached if you prefer to listen. One in five today one in five wondered if being alive was worth the cost of another day wondering if 2 in 10 wondered when there was finally going to be a 911 for mental health 4 in 20 wondered if the wealth spent on the self decided salaries of politicians who claim the children are our future could pay for it maybe 1 of the 8 of the 8 in 40 quit wondering and started making plans maybe 3 of the 16 of the 16 in 80 feel like unrecycled cans that are just easier to throw away Maybe one fifth of 160 is easier to say than 32 because 32 is starting to sound like a lot a toll free number is not enough give us a number everyone knows by heart so the next time we see someone's world falling apart we can do more than just stand there because the scars we can't see require different care than the ones left there by crime or by accident sometimes there's no hint to tell you where it hurts it just hurts sometimes our minds are red alerts you can't see even when you look us in the eye sometimes we cry for what others would consider no reason sometimes the treason we commit is against ourselves it's hard enough trying to find who we are amid the overcrowded shelves of pills meant to manage how we function sometimes the junction box is broken and we miss the connections that others seem to make with ease imagine if you threw away the 1 of the 1 in 5 keys that could open the door to the room the world forgot we were locked in if kindness makes us friends let compassion make us kin don't let us get lost in the numbers again illness is illness sometimes the cost to heal it is an ear willing to listen sometimes a shoulder volunteering to be a crutch people are not a price to be weighed against your budget 1 in 5 is 2 much.