TO THE EDITOR:
An Elon student has fallen to his death from Morrison Residence Hall. Circumstances suggest it was a suicide.
In the coming days, we will no doubt hear about resources that the University offers to students struggling with depression. We will hear about the life of the deceased.
And we will probe the external facts of this young man’s life and conclude that his pain would have blown over, if only he had waited. Why did he do it? Didn’t he have friends to talk to?
The answers to these questions are unknowable. Beneath them, however, lies a disturbing lack of empathy.
We do not see that poisonous fog that must have rolled over this young man’s life. We do not grasp his certainty that the years to come were a waste. We do not experience the cognitive distortions inherent to profound depression.
A faithful friend is the medicine of life. If you see yours struggle, speak about it frankly with them. You won’t do any harm, and you might save their life.
Sam Shaw
