Mental Health & The Holidays

[Listen to an audio version of this blog here.]

There is an old rumor, or an old wife’s tale, or maybe just a lunch-table legend, that the rate of suicide increases during the holidays. According to most sources (including the CDC), that rumor is absolutely false. Suicide rates are lowest in December, and peak in the spring and fall. Time of year aside, suicide itself is the 10th leading cause of death for all Americans.

While I never really dealt with suicidal ideation, I did live with and for an eating disorder for years. I went from heavily restricting, to binging, then purging, a relatively common sequence of events. Eating disorders are among the most deadly mental illnesses, second only to opioid overdose, and over a quarter of people with eating disorders attempt suicide.

When I first sought treatment, I sat in a group session and thought to myself, “these people have problems.” What I didn’t care to admit is that I had a problem, too. I wouldn’t have been there otherwise. In one group therapy session, a girl proudly showed me the scars that lined her thin arms. Another tried to recruit me to get high with her in the bathroom. High on what, I wasn’t sure. Another girl talked openly about her depth of self-hatred, how she couldn’t be as thin as she wanted and therefore, didn’t feel like living. I hated group sessions. I didn’t want to…