My name is Jordan Burnham and I’m a 19 year-old guy that suffers from depression. Last year I tried to commit suicide by jumping out of my 9-story bedroom window. After falling over 100 feet, by miracle I survived and now I am trying to make a positive from such a horrible nightmare.
If there’s one thing I try to explain to people so that they understand is that I wasn’t suicidal. I didn’t plan my suicide attempt. I wasn’t drunk or under another substance when I went out my window, but I don’t remember going out of my window. I remember golfing that day, and the discussion with my parents about them discovering the alcohol in my trunk, but I just don’t remember jumping out of my window. It’s a blessing and a curse at the same time. I live in the same bedroom to this day so it’s probably a good thing I don’t remember, but I always wonder what I was thinking when I made this decision and why. When I hit the ground I broke my fibula, which ripped through the skin, my tibia, my femur, my jaw in four places, and my wrist. I was bleeding internally including from my brain.
Today, all of my injuries have healed and I feel a lot better than I did before. I feel fortunate to be alive and have the opportunity go around talking to middle school and high school students about my story and my mental disorder, depression. I am sharing my story with you in this blog in hopes that it will inspire other young adults affected by mental disorders and mental health issues, and help them cope with what they're going through.
Although I'm speaking out on this subject and helping others, it's important to understand that I still have depression. I live with it everyday. It's not something you can just get over, like a cold; it's a daily process.
