“Nothing good ever happens after 2 a.m.” People may recognize this statement from season one of How I Met Your Mother, where the plot of one episode is built on Ted making a judgment call that he might have regretted come the morning when he sobered up and realized what he has done.
His grandmother came up with this saying to express that when 2 a.m. rolls around, it’s time to go to sleep.
Not only is that when cities tend to go silent until the morning, being up after 2 a.m. has other dangers. It’s also when people are the most vulnerable.
During the hustle of everyday life, people are constantly active and there is much more to pay attention to than your inner thoughts.
There is always something to do, something to distract you, someone you could be talking to or a task you need to complete.
However, during the nighttime, people lose the ability to push thoughts away from their subconscious and suddenly they find themselves wrestling with insecurities that didn’t seem to be much of a problem during the day.
Maybe it’s financial struggles. Maybe you had a disagreement with a family member or friend that you had forgotten about until that point. Maybe you find yourself stressed about an upcoming midterm or exam. Maybe it’s internal or external pressures to excel. No matter what the issue is, it always seems to come up at the most inconvenient time: any time after 2 a.m.
As university students, we have to balance everything with little help and are forced to grow up in a short time following high school.
Being away from our parents and facing the adult world can be daunting — sometimes it can prove to be too overwhelming.
One in every 20 people consider suicide and hold onto it for their entire life — the third leading cause of death for people in the 15 to 24-age range is suicide.
Putting this into perspective, one in 20 people can be a dorm room on your floor, or half of a tutorial section in a 300-student class. One in 20 people can be an entire class, all in the same year. Personal finances and debt is identified as one of the major sources for mental health issues, and even if you are financially sound, you still have social, family, interpersonal and school stress that can bog your mind with negativity.
The next time you’re out or you can’t fall asleep and you realize you have nothing else to do, remember to keep yourself in check. Nothing good ever happens after 2 a.m.