The Silence of Drowning

Those who struggle with mental health issues and/or suicidal thoughts can also do so silently. We need to be on the lookout and extend a hand if we can.

Drowning can sneak up on you. In movies and television, drowning people are obvious. Screaming, flailing arms waving in the air, someone hears their cries and jumps in to rescue them, just in time.  In real life, people drown silently. Because they cannot breathe, they cannot make a sound. Their body shuts down, not allowing their arms to raise high above the water. Lifeguards and other experts are trained to look for the swimmers who suddenly stop moving, who are not raising their hands, whose heads seem to bob above and below the water, without a sound. 

We can’t always see when someone around us is  struggling, caught in a rip tide, strength used up, unable to remember that swimming parallel to shore is the way out. We must look for those struggling silently. We can’t rely on other people to do the rescuing.  Lifeguards aren’t always on duty. Sometimes it’s the people on the beach who can save a life. 

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