On April 5th, 1996, Kurt Cobain, the lead singer of Nirvana passed away. His body, along with a suicide note and the shotgun that ended his life, were found with him in his home. On August 11th, 2014, Robin Williams, probably one of the funniest and prolific actors of our time, passed away. He was found strangled to death. What do these two events have in common? The cause of death - suicide.
Four days ago, the New York Times ran an article with the title of "U.S. Suicide Rate Surges to a 30-Year High". (I've posted the link below) It increased in nearly every age group; except for older adults. Women were hit the hardest by this - with a 63% jump in the age bracket between 45 and 64. Sixty-three percent. Think about it. "The increases were so widespread that they lifted the nation's suicide rate to 13 per 100,000 people, the highest since 1986." In 2014, it was the 10th leading cause of death in the United States. Which was more than AIDS.
There's a suicide in the USA every 13 minutes.
Why am I bringing this up? Because, even though we are fully in the 21st century, the topics of suicide, depression, and mental illness are still taboo topics that most people shy away from. If you bring up AIDS, cancer, even ebola and people will get up and arms and demand a cure. But, as soon as you mention depression and suicide and people seek to change the subject as quick as possible. There was a USA Today article (which I posted below) going into how, even though it theoretically 100% preventable, it is low in the nation's health industry's priority list. There is far more research and funding going into automobile deaths, which, for the record, is less than suicide, than there is self-inflicted death. We are in collective denial about one of our country's most serious problems that we face.
Yet this is one problem that will never be fully swept under the rug.
The good news is that there is a non-profit organization called To Write Love On Her Arms (again, link below) which has become incredibly popular within the last ten years. The organization's focus is present hope for people struggling with addiction, depression, self injury, and thoughts of suicide. The very first thing you'll see when you click on the website is the words "Hope is real. Help is real. Your story is important." They also have slogans such as "You are enough" and "No one else can play your part". In fact, they have even partnered with the Crisis Text Line to further help people from taking their own lives. They've become a voice to those who thought they did not have one.
There's also a growing trend in people getting semicolon tattoos. The significance behind it is those who have struggled with suicide, self harm, and addiction who are making the statement of "my story isn't over yet". Yes, there's a link below. I personally am planning on getting a semicolon tattoo sometime this year.
To wrap this up the best as I can, here's the number to the National Suicide Prevention Hotline: 1-800-273-8255. If you are uncomfortable talking with someone, you can text START to 741-741 and go from there. There are people waiting to hear from you, twenty four hours a day, seven days a week.
The world is already a dark place. Don't be one less light shining in it.
Links:
https://afsp.org/about-suicide/suicide-statistics/
http://www.save.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=home.viewPage&page_id=705D5DF4-055B-F1EC-3F66462866FCB4E6
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/22/health/us-suicide-rate-surges-to-a-30-year-high.html?nlid=67235496&_r=0
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2014/10/09/suicide-mental-health-prevention-research/15276353/
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/07/07/project-semicolon-tattoos_n_7745358.html
https://twloha.com
http://www.crisistextline.org
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