Kevin Hines, Mental Illness, and Me
On February 25th, Union had the opportunity to have a very special guest speaker: Kevin Hines, a filmmaker who’s also notable for another reason. He’s among the sliver of individuals who’ve survived jumping off the Golden Gate Bridge. The talk drew quite a crowd, and even though I wasn’t able to go at the time he spoke, I was able to catch it on livestream.com/ utv. The talk was absolutely phenomenal, and it had a big impact on me and a lot of other people. If you haven’t already, you should definitely take the time to watch it and hear what he had to say.
Essentially, in summary, he retold his struggle with mental health and the events leading up to his attempted death by suicide. He ended by telling some anecdotes about his time recovering in a psych ward, including meeting his future wife. His life really turned around for the better because he chose to actively fight back against his mental illness. It was an uplifting talk, and Kevin is a very charismatic speaker.
It especially meant a lot to me for a reason I’m sure a lot of my peers can relate to. Depression is not something that’s easy to fight on your own. I deal with it every single day. I obviously don’t want to freak anybody out; I’m far from being suicidal, but being depressed is an everyday reality for me. It makes it difficult for me to feel close to people. As a result, it makes it difficult to feel wanted or necessary, even though I know I have like a bazillion friends and prominent roles at three different jobs. Even while I’m writing this, I’m in the midst of fighting a very deep depressive episode.
Kevin Hines’ talk really hit home that despite the fact that I might feel that way, it isn’t true. He mentions that all he wanted was for someone to reach out and make sure that he was okay. That’s something that I really connected with, and fortunately, I do have a loving family and a massive friend group who actively look out for me. But I know not everybody can confidently, objectively feel that way for a number of reasons. I want those people to know that they aren’t alone and that I can be here if you need me to be. I’m sure a lot of people reciprocate that feeling.
Basically what I’m trying to say is Kevin Hines is easily the best worship speaker Union has had all year. He made me feel like it’s okay to be vulnerable, and I hope other people can begin to feel that way too.
Drew Hickman is a sophomore studying communication.