After the recent suicides of two University of Pennsylvania students, Penn junior Jack Park is making headlines for sharing his struggles with suicide and depression.
Park wrote a post on Pennsive, a blog that gives Penn students a safe space to discuss mental health, in which he says he attempted suicide twice during his freshman year. Following the post, Park was interviewed by Penn UTV, the campus's television network, in a video that quickly went viral among students. In its first day, the video received over 1,500 views.
"The only way to prevent depression from happening in the first place and ultimately prevent suicides is to be able to trust people that they will listen to your problems," Park says. "You have to open up to your friends about your problems. At Penn – not everyone – but a lot of people don’t talk about their weakness because everyone seems so smart and they all seem to be in such a good place all time."
According to USA Today, Park is the first attempted suicide survivor at Penn to share his or her story. However, after the post, Pennsive has seen more students open up about their suicide attempts.
In light of the recent traumatic deaths, Park's story is especially poignant. One student spoke about Park on the Penn Compliments Facebook page, commending him for "having the courage to be so open about surviving the fear and pain of mental illness," and saying that his "work will not go unnoticed."