Becca Hall @ChewwBecccaa [Staff Writer]
The week of September 8-14th 2014 is National Suicide Prevention Week, surrounding the World Suicide prevention day of September 10th. According to The National Alliance on Mental Illness, approximately 25% of adults suffer from a mental illness in one year. In other words, one out of every four people suffer from some sort of mental illness. The third most common cause of hospitalization in the United States are mood disorders, such as depression. So why is it such a taboo topic. Many won’t admit they suffer from depression, anxiety, or another mental illness, but people will openly admit almost any other reason that they were hospitalized for. Many people may even feel the need to lie, using a cover story for why they were in the hospital in order to avoid being ostracized by others, even though as stated before 25% of people suffer from similar things. If people would be as open and willing to talk about their experiences with mental illnesses as they are about other illnesses such as cancer or heart disease, maybe it would be easier for those going through a tough time to seek help.
It’s time people start talking. Its time to end the awkward silences and nervous glances that the topic of suicide or mental illness causes when brought up. Suicide causes more deaths than homicide, and is the 10th leading cause of death in the U.S. Yes, that is correct. According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness, the 10th leading cause of death is suicide. How much worse or common do these illnesses need to be in order for people to start talking about them in the community. Suicide prevention week does a great job of reminding people that this is a serious situation, but its not enough. On Instagram and Twitter projects to raise suicide awareness and prevention such as the hand over heart project are getting nowhere near as much attention as other illness awarenesses such as the ALS ice bucket challenge or the Polar Plunge. This is something that needs to be talked about, because, as stated before, chances are one out of every four people reading this know what it’s like to live with a mental illness.
