September 1, 2024
Suicide Awareness Month is in the month of September. When someone commits suicide, they are injuring themselves with the intention to die.
According to the CDC:
Suicide rates have increased to about 36% between 2000–2022. In 2022, suicide was responsible for over 49,000 deaths, which is about one person dying every 11 minutes. In 2022, approximately 13.2 million American adults seriously gave thought to committing suicide, while there were 3.8 million who made plans for attempting suicide, and there were 1.6 million people who actually attempted suicide. Here in the U. S. Virgin Islands, there are people who may think about this every day, some may plan, and some may actually commit this act.
It is critical that we keep in mind that suicide is not something that people do because they are under stress. It is much more complicated than that. They have reached the very end of their rope. There are no more tomorrows to look forward to or to plan for. They are hopeless and feel completely helpless. Many may have felt that the dark and depressing feeling that they have will never go away. While some may think that this is an act of selfishness, it is actually one of complete and utter desperation. They essentially would rather not go on living than to feel the deep and dark pain that they are going through. Mental illness is real. We may think that it looks like someone who lives on the street, or is constantly walking on the street. But, what mental illness looks like is much more than that. It can be living within the one person that we can rely on each and every day, who acts as though everything is alright, all of the time. Where no one would ever know the pain and heartache they experience on a daily and excruciating basis. It may look like the always well put-together co-worker, who shows up and does their absolute best each and every day without fail. But when they get home, they cry themselves to sleep, due to the pain and their continued suffering in silence routine.
Suicide not only ends the life of the person who commits it, but it ends the life of so many different parts of the individual. Think of what they would have become, what they hoped and dreamed of, the children they may have had or connections they may have made. Their successes are now, never to come to fruition, and their legacy is no longer being built, but has come to a complete stop, without seeing its full potential being realized.
Regardless of why someone take’s their own life, the pain they feel may be gone, but the pain has just begun for those who have been left behind. Those left behind have the pain-staking task of now living without their loved one. Many other people in that person’s life are also affected deeply and they suffer along with the idea of not being able to have this person in their life anymore.
All suicides cannot be prevented but we can stay alert an vigilant as much as we can. Check on your friends, family, co-workers, especially the ones who appear to have it all together. Having it all together is a myth: NONE OF US HAVE IT ALL TOGETHER! The ones who are always there for others are often the ones who keep everything in. Encourage and talk about mental health and mental wellness to each other. We must begin to normalize the seeking of mental health services for ourselves, and others, as this is not a one man, one woman, or one child issue as we are all in this together. It’s time!
By Natalie Lewis, LMFT (U. S. Virgin Islands, Florida, Georgia and Virginia)
Reference
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Suicide Prevention. Preventing Suicide: Suicide Prevention Fact Sheet. (2024, September). Suicide Data and Statistics. https://www.cdc.gov/suicide/pdf/NCIPC-Suicide-FactSheet-508_FINAL.pdf
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