Suicide is the act or an instance of taking one’s own life voluntarily and intentionally. Some risks that may induce this act include mental disorders like depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, etc. Some other reasons could be due to stress from things like bullying, financial issues, relationship issues, or substance abuse.

Suicide is the second leading cause of death for the ages 12-18. More young adults and teenagers die from suicide than cancer, influenza, stroke, birth defects, heart disease, AIDS, pneumonia, and chronic lung disease all combined. In America, there are an average of 5,240 suicide attempts from young adults seventh through twelfth grade every single day.

Usually when someone commits or attempts to commit suicide, it is because they feel hopeless or like they cannot get better. They can be in situations that they are scared they cannot leave and feel their only option is to die. Most of the time they are extremely depressed and need help mentally. They seek self-destructive options to “escape” their everyday nightmare. Some of these include self-harm, which can be anything from drug abuse to physically harming their bodies; or not seeking help for their problem that they may or may not know that they have.

When these troubled youth commit this horrifying act, it doesn’t just affect their life, it affects so many others. This can affect their family, even if they weren’t close or didn’t talk, it still affects them even a little. This also affects their friends who have lost someone they probably saw every day and cherished them. It affects their peers, who even if they didn’t know them, will remember sitting next to you in class wondering if they could have helped.

Suicide is a very sad way to leave this earth and should be avoided if possible. If you know someone who is depressed or extremely upset and you know they need to talk to someone, tell someone and help them. Everyone should have someone they can go to and feel safe around no matter what. Treat everyone kindly, you do not know what they could be going through.

If you need anyone to talk to, for whatever reason, please call: 1-800-273-8255.