Suicide is never a topic anyone wants to talk about, mostly due to possible losses from friends and family, but it is a major topic that needs to be brought to attention. According to The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP), “suicide is the tenth leading cause of death in the United States”. For people who are 15-24 years old, suicide is the second leading cause of death. Teenagers in high school make up a large portion of this statistic. Teenagers are taking their own lives during the four years in high school. Therefore, schools all around the world should continue to talk about the impacts and awareness of suicide and why suicide prevention is so important.

The AFSP states “each day there is estimated to be about 129 Americans that die due to suicide, and over 50,000 people die by their own hands every year”. Depression starts this path to suicide and it is the leading cause of suicide in the world. Starting with mild depression, those who do not seek help immediately will continue into a deeper depression phase, allowing that sadness or loneliness to absorb the body. For those who seek treatment, about 80% – 90% are treated successfully. Most of the time people are oblivious to know about the depression someone is going through. Therefore, the importance of getting help immediately can be life or death.

This is why we have The National Suicide Prevention Month. All through September is National Suicide Prevention month. Which means all types of mental health advocates, prevention organizations and survivors of suicide come together to promote suicide prevention awareness. Many schools will have advocates come and talk to students about awareness. There is also National Suicide Prevention Week on the Sept. 8 through 14 and National Suicide Prevention Day on Sept. 10. All of these come together to further raise awareness, talk about the effects of suicide, focus on why seeking help is so important and why it is okay to ask for help. This all goes back to being nice to everyone because you don’t know what is happening in their life, you don’t know what type of possible depression or sadness they could be going through. This one month alone has helped many cope with different types of depression.

“Losing a close friend is a horrible feeling and it has shown me the real value of life and has made me more respectful and loving towards everyone I meet. Which is why it is so important to show every individual that they are loved and cared about in their own way.” says freshman Chelsea Klasson.

With many tragic losses in Roswell High School the question of “why is suicide prevention so important” starts to become clearer. Which is why it is important to learn and talk about suicide prevention with anyone possible, because anyone is better than no one.