On Sunday, January 30, 2022, news reporters informed the population of the beloved Miss USA’s tragic death. After investigations, police forces have disclosed that Cheslie Kryst died after jumping off of a building in Manhattan, New York.
Judging from her instagram and the internet, Kryst seems like she has her whole life together: a happy, widely known model, tv star and attorney. Bea Cote, the executive director of Impact Family Violence Services and Cheslie’s close friend, revealed that “like most other people, [she] fell for that, Kryst’s got it all, she’s doing it all, and she’s got this.”
This remark illustrates how people of all ages and statuses are able to hide the negative and melancholy aspects of what they may be enduring, behind a perfect, uncomplicated, joyous facade they present.
Additionally, it has been exemplified further to never judge what you solely see on social media, because more often than not, it is an exaggeration of the truth.
Devastatingly, statistics have proven that the “fourth-leading death amongst adolescents is suicide”, according to Americas Health Rankings. Due to mental illness, diagnosed or not, people feel inclined to end their lives in order to end the agony they are experiencing. Amidst teens today, suicide ideation has increased on account of the fear that comes with asking for help.
Yet the unsettling fact about this is, frequently those struggles go unrecognized until it is too late. According to the website “Charlotte Observer,” Kryst’s mother disclaims that “Cheslie Kryst was privately suffering from ‘high-functioning depression’ before her death on Sunday.”
It can be extremely hard for people to admit to the emotions they are feeling while under the impression that they must suppress and hide it from society if it does not conform to the standard of happiness. This may be especially present when an individual is held to such a high, unrealistic standard. However, under most circumstances, it is almost unbearable to even admit these self-deprecating emotions to oneself, sometimes resulting in denial.
Today, people put aside those feelings as a way to cover the depressing or negative thoughts they are having, instead of talking about them in hopes of getting better. This has lead to great increase in not oly the numbers of mental health issues, but the number of suicides as well.
Vox states, “according to NIMH, 50.9 percent of adults with mood disorders receive treatment of some kind. But only 19.6 percent of those people received what NIMH defines as minimally adequate treatment.”
In other words, minimal treatment varies per disorder/person, however for depression, most are receiving a drug such as an antidepressant, rather than the ability to receive verbal help on how they are feeling. It is significant to realize that some people are suffering with this mental disorder until they cannot handle it any longer due to the upsetting inability to receive proper help.
“May this day bring you rest and peace”, says the final instagram post of Miss USA before she passed away. Although beyond heart wrenching, this tragedy has shown numerous people they are not alone in what they are going through, and how they should get help before it may be too l
