By Karla Perez
The number “1-800-273-8255” is not only the title of one of the most popular songs made by the rapper Logic—it is also the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline number.
Every year (and as suicide continues on the rise), there are more and more calls. Suicide prevention awareness has rather become a palpitant issue — and that’s exactly why we have a National Suicide Prevention Month: September.
This month is “a time to share resources and stories in an effort to shed light on this highly taboo and stigmatized topic,” as stated by the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI). This month not only raises awareness for those who experience suicidal thoughts and offers us myriad resources that can aid us when helping someone or ourselves; it also opens our eyes to a national leading cause of death.
Suicide is an epidemic that has taken the world by storm and that does not seem to be stopping any time soon.
Every 40 seconds, a person somewhere in the world commits suicide. About 16.2 million adults in America have suffered a depressive episode in a given year. Less than 50 percent of people who suffer from depression around the world receive treatment. These are all facts proven and accounted for by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and yet, they are not as known or talked about as they should.
But why is this?
Suicide and even depression, in general, have become topics that people are desensitized or indifferent to. Many people around the world don’t consider mental illness an actual illness; they rather view it as a fabricated excuse for someone to use when they want attention.
But despite the heavy notion of suicide becoming diminished, suicide rates among 15 to 24-year-olds have been increasing steadily since 2007, becoming the second leading cause of death in this age group, with around 8.6 percent of high schoolers in 2015 reported having attempted suicide, according to the American Foundation of Suicide Prevention.
These extremely serious and concerning topics have become a blatant joke to people—but especially to teenagers who use phrases like “kms” (kill myself) or “I wanna die” every other word.
Suicide is not relatable, nor is it a topic to be made fun of. It is a serious problem that accounts for around 18 percent of deaths among our youth every year, according to Very Well Health.
But it seems like the desensitization of suicide is further fueling a generation that is already depressed as it is, and if we keep going like this, suicide rates are not going to drop any time soon.
