I was at work recently when a man came up to me to order a hot dog.
I went out and reintroduced myself and he was stoked that he remembered me as well.
But he did say something to me that I wanted to share with all my skier friends.
He had recently read an article about the well documented but rarely publicised phenomenon of the Suicide Belt.
The Rocky Mountains in North America has suicide increasing at an alarming rate.
Ski bums are going up into the mountains and shooting themselves.
I was very thankful for his message.
Im glad Im not the only one.
You are broke
Ski resorts are designed for people on holiday.
The prices are designed for people on holiday.
You are on minimum wage.
People that live in resorts are commonly working more than one job.
In Revelstoke I had 4.
Presently, I have three.
These financial issues place enormous stress on individuals, families, and relationships.
Kelley McMillan, 2016, National Geographic
2.
You have best friends for 6 months.
Then you may never see them again
Ski bums have a lack of deep social connections.
Sometimes I look around a room and I think
Shit.
No one in this room has known me longer than 4 months
and sometimes that can break you down.
You cant talk about issues or problems, small or large, because these people dont know you.
It would be a weird over share.
I didnt think my mental health was that bad until I finally returned home and saw my old friends.
I was so overwhelmed with how stoked everyone was to see me.
I didnt think anyone would really care or notice me being home!
The thing about mental health is you dont realise youre spiralling down.
Seeing everyone was a wake up call for me.
I didnt realise how important friendships can be in keeping you sane.
I guess we are pack animals after all.
…Due to the transient nature of these resort communities, their social makeup is often more tenuous.
Residents lack intergenerational relationships and deep social attachments, which are protective against suicide.
(McMillan, 2016)
3.
You live in the most beautiful places in the world!
Your life has to be perfect right!
Living in paradise can sometimes make it worse.
People always say to me
Youre living the dream!
People have ideas of how things should be.
John McIntosh, Ph.D., professor of psychology at Indiana University South Bend (McMillan, 2016)
4.
Good luck being happy after munching on all those drugs and drinking all those beers.
Ski resorts are fun.
And they are full of epic parties!
However doing MDMA every weekend and drinking excessively for six months is going to destroy your mental health.
Come downs are real and add to the already slightly sour mix that is ski resort life.
These are just some of the reasons that people are disapperaing in the mountains forever.
So yes, I get to spend my time surfing around mountains with my friends.
But it puts me at super high risk of skiing off the edge of one.
But this was becoming one of the more important conversations Id had in a while.
He told me that he has a large back ground in mental health.
He explained to me that these ski bums dont realise that they are spiralling out of control.
A recent campaign that flooded Facebook, #itsokaytotalk, highlighted mens mental health.
Its important that we loose this stigma associated with mental health.
Its okay to feel like shit, but its not okay to do nothing about it.
If anyone ever needs it Ill be there to listen.
A running joke in skiing is knee injuries.
Its completely acceptable to see someone hobbling around on crutches.
Its even customary to say Which knee is your bad one?
and not Do you have a bad knee?.
The brain is just an organ, why is it taboo to think that it might not work properly?
Imagine if people said:
My brain feels like shit.
Can we head in for an early apres and talk it out?
or
Woah dude, you seem kinda stressed.
Want me to help you out with a mood reconstruction?
We are so quick to shout RICE!
Rest Ice Compression Elevation!
and we should have one for mental health.
Speak, Listen, Understand, Solution, Hug.
Speak up if you feel like shit.
Or if you notice someone slipping, speak up!
Listen to what people say.
Dont brush it off.
Because cuddles are great.
Ive already seen amazing not-for-profits start up like Shred the Stigma, Campaigns like R U OK?
and rail jams held to raise money for Black Dog Institute.
Id really like to get something rolling, but I cant do it alone.
That is bloody ridiculous in my books.
Let me know if you want to be part of the change.
