Breakthrough

This past weekend I heard three heartbreaking stories of three people I do not know.

Two of them reached notable accomplishments in the world of social media on a platform called “twitch”. Twitch is a social media platform that gained quick favor in the gaming community but lately has been expanding into areas from a to z.

While I do not really know what these two digital celebrities highlighted through their platform, I do know they both suffered from and fought against mental health issues.

Bryon Bernstein, better known by his online alias Reckful, was an Israeli-American Twitch streamer and former professional Esports player. Bernstein is best known in the gaming community for his achievements in World of Warcraft and Asheron’s Call. His brother stated that he believed Bryon died of self-inflicted causes. Bryon openly discussed his struggles with mental health, including bipolar disorder and depression. He passed away on July 2, 2020. My thoughts and prayers go out to all that loved him, at the time of his death he had about 1 million followers on twitch and 250,000 on youtube.

Sadly only 4 days later another Twitch celebrity took her life. Fans were concerned for the safety of the streaming star after she posted a series of troubling social media posts. Lannia. ‘Ohlana’ was a popular Twitch personality with over 100,000 followers on the streaming platform. The 26-year-old was best known by the community for streaming games such as Counter-Strike: Global Offensive and Valorant. It appears as though ‘Ohlana’ took her own life following a battle with depression. One of her last posts said this:

“depressed ppl struggle to reach out in fear the ones closest to them will have cops show up and forcefully confine them against their will. so they’re stuck feeling alone with their dark thoughts because they don’t want to be trapped where they just feel worse.”

Again, I pray for those that loved her who are hurting even as I write this.

The third is a friend of mine’s child. For many years, this person has been fighting heroin addiction. As is often the case with severe addiction their life has consistently spiraled deeper and deeper into the chaos, pain, and problems addiction brings. Often that means trouble with the law and this situation was no different. Problems had reached severe levels when finally they were sent to prison for many months. Upon release, they began the process of moving forward in their recovery. While I can not know how much or little they did, I do know that within thirty days they lapsed to the heartbreak of those around them. Sometimes even when a person is fighting to overcome addiction they stumble, you can read “Ambivalence”.

This reveals to us a sobering truth about Mental health and addiction. They do not care how successful you are, smart you are, color your skin is, or place you live in, they will attack, and they attack with a vengeance.

This also reveals that a mistake we make in helping people facing addiction or mental health is thinking just stopping or just going on some medication will solve the problem. It won’t, Ohlana gives some insight in her heartbreaking cry: “depressed ppl struggle to reach out in fear the ones closest to them will have cops show up and forcefully confine them against their will. so they’re stuck feeling alone with their dark thoughts because they don’t want to be trapped where they just feel worse.”

The answer to fighting addiction and mental health is CONNECTION to human beings that love us and will walk through our pain with us. That doesn’t mean they just turn away from the harmful things that happen, it means they know we are with them and for them in spite of what they may be facing, not minimizing the outcomes of their choices, but affirming that we still love them. A great read to understand this better is Johann Hari’s book “Lost Connections.”

What our loved one’s need is a “Break Through!” The fight may be hard, the road may be long, but the breakthrough will come if we stand with them and help them NOT give up! A well-known verse from the Bible says it this way:

Galatians 6:9 So let’s not get tired of doing what is good. At just the right time we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don’t give up.

A Breakthrough Happens When:

I learn that the most influential thing I can do as someone who loves someone in active addiction or ongoing mental health crisis is to hold them accountable for their choices, continue to help in ways that can lead to wellness and health, make sure they know that regardless of the choices they make and the ways that affects their/our circumstance I will not withdraw love.

An individual battling an addiction realizes that whatever the drug or action of choice is fulfilling for them is no longer worth the pain of getting there. That is a big jump forward, but that moment is a significant moment. For my daughter LaLa that happened the day she told the world “I am a heroin addict.” Honestly, she just ran out of time! You can read about that day in “A Moment of Great Pride.”

Keep fighting for the “Breakthrough” it will come!

This weeks featured image is by Brooke Shaden it is called “Breakthrough”