“Shame is at the heart of depression, is feeling of unworthiness…”(3:05) This quote to me has a lot of meaning to it. Suffering with depression is not an easy task, and every since I have had to take medicine and go to therapy, I have learned what has caused this in me, and it was shame. I was having trouble with who I was, and I still get nervous to talk about it to people I do not really know. I am gay, and that made me feel shame for a while. I knew there was nothing wrong with it but it was how I thought society would react that made me feel unworthy. With all the hate in the world I did not know if I would be safe, but I have been lucky, although I have suffered the side effects of shame causing depression, I have yet to run into physical harm because of this. Feeling unworthy to society makes you rethink why you are even here on this planet, and believe me when you are thinking about that subject a lot it is not easier.
I know some people who have sucidial thoughts, and although Hallward notes “What we know is that in Massachusetts where marriage equality has been the law for 10 years, the rate of teen suicide among LGBTQ teens has been halved.”(9:50) This is still to high, there is still hate that the LGBTQ community faces, and I know from the people I know that they still get bullied, they still get hated on, and they still want to kill themselves, and it should not have to be this way. Shame can be caused public opinion on certain topics. It is a great thing that suicides in the community have gone down half, that is an incredible feat, all because the public changed its tone on gay marriage, and it makes me hopeful that one day the suicide rate can be wiped to near extinction.
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Roger,
Thank you for sharing your personal story. It is so powerful. You write: “Feeling unworthy to society makes you rethink why you are even here on this planet, and believe me when you are thinking about that subject a lot it is not easier.” This statement resonates with what so many others said on Hallward’s show on LGBTQ teens. When society is saying no to you, it can bring up so many questions. I think you also touch on the powerful feeling of not knowing how others will react and treat you and that, in and of itself, creates stress and worry. Good work! Thank you for sharing this.