Mental health is a serious subject that people have began talking about

Mental health is a topic that is often overlooked and not talked about

COLUMBUS, Miss. (WCBI)- Mental health is a topic that is often overlooked and not talked about. A recent death has brought awareness to the mental health realm and professionals encourage people to help spark the conversation.

The death of Cheslie Kryst, Miss USA 2019, has inspired conversations about mental health. According to reports, Kryst died after falling from a Manhattan New York building. Many people knew her for winning the Miss USA crown, but she did much more.

“This woman was a division one collegiate athlete, she was a lawyer, she was Miss USA, she was an Emmy nominated television correspondent and she felt like she was running out of time to matter. We can’t speculate as to why Cheslie took her own life,” said WCBI sunrise anchor Tara Wheeler.

Wheeler didn’t know Kryst personally but has a connectoin with her part of her journey. Tara was crowned Miss Virginia in 2008 and has been in the spotlight on a national stage. Tara agreed that no one knew what struggles Kryst faced, but there were several factors behind the scenes that could have led to her state of mind.

“You’ve got the people that are always naysayers, trolls on the internet, or people that just want to pick you apart for every little thing that you can just never do enough, no accomplishment is enough for them, you’re never pretty enough and they’ve always got something negative to say and I think when you’re in an environment where you’re holding yourself to such a high standard. That kind of criticism could weigh heavily,” said Wheeler.

Mental health professionals said talking about struggles, and not stigmatizing them, helps remove the shame around mental health problems.

“Feeling hopeless and feeling depression especially in these times is not uncommon it’s not even rare, and raising awareness could kind of normalize what some folks are going through,” said Wald.

Lowndes County Community Counseling Administrator Keenyn Wald said that friends and families should not only check on their loved ones but pay attention to detail.

“What we’re looking for is a change in behavior. So somebody might be really engaged, hang out every week or go have coffee or just socializing then all of a sudden they’re not available and not responding to texts,” said Wald.

Wald says above all, just be there.

“The number one thing is they have people around them that say I care about you this is what I see and what can I do to help. It’s not rocket science it’s recognizing it’s reaching out, it’s even naming it,” said Wald.

Wald encouraged people to continue to help their loved ones and try to bring a positive light to mental health.

For those struggling with mental health, you can call the suicide prevention hotline at 800-273-8255.