September is National Suicide Prevention Month, But It’s Not Working
135 Suicides a Day and No Headlines Except During Winter Holidays and Assigned “Awareness” Months.
September is National Suicide Prevention Month, which means for the next week social media and the news will be flooded with suicide content. In the weeks after that, the conversation will dwindle until it disappears hibernating for the next national awareness campaign. This is a problem because suicides are increasing, not declining.
Since 2020, suicide rates have been on the rise in the United States. Today, One-hundred and thirty-five Americans will die by suicide. That’s nearly 50,000 Americans ending their lives themselves every single year. Are one-hundred and thirty-five deaths per day just a percentage of Americans we write off as the cost of existence?
We need to stop ignoring suicides. I’m not sure if it’s human nature or American, but we tend to bury our collective heads in the sand and ignore anything uncomfortable, until of course, we are affected by something we refuse to acknowledge. Yeah, it sucks talking about death, especially taking one’s own life, but this is one of the conversations we need to have as a society.
Obituaries rarely, if ever, mention suicide. It’s taboo. We don’t want to embarrass the person who chose to end their life. Families feel shame, guilt, anger, and those four other stages of grief. Loved ones don’t want to have tough conversations or admit to themselves that maybe they could have done more. My father would always tell me, “Suicide is a permanent solution to a temporary problem” and “Killing yourself is the most selfish thing a person can do.” I’ve also heard “Think about the pain suicide would cause your loved ones.” These thoughts aren’t original. They’re echoed in our culture. And to be honest, I think they may cause more harm than good. What if loved ones are adding to suicidal thoughts? Perhaps, family and friends have distanced themselves from the individual further isolating them or vice versa?
For those who are suicidal, they want to leave this plane of existence. Why would anyone want to make someone who already hates it here feel even worse about themselves? You think that stops or enables a potential suicide? Let’s shame and make someone who wants to die feel worse about themselves. That should solve the crisis.
Unfortunately, American media doesn’t like to cover suicides out of fear it will normalize them. Sometimes a brief mention will be made and some statistics, but when’s the last time a reporter did a deep dive into the suicide plague killing 49,500 Americans a year and rising? The media isn’t entirely wrong in their approach here. If a bunch of journalists talk about people committing suicide, the thinking is it’ll inspire more people to do the same. Studies show that mass shootings spike after excessive media coverage, sometimes less than two weeks after the last public execution. The more attention we give the killer, the more likely someone else wants their shot at infamy. That’s human nature. But with that same logic, why is it that within twenty-four hours of almost every mass shooting, I know more about the shooter than my own mother? That creates copycat mass shooters but is still covered by the media. Why aren’t we having a national conversation about suicide?
Sadly, mass shooting coverage gets ratings, suicides doesn’t. It’s too boring to keep people glued to their screens. That’s the truth. Well, unless a famous person ends their life. Then suicides matter for a day or two, depending on the fame level of the deceased.
I’m sure some day in the near future, someone less human, richer, and smarter than me will figure out a way to profit from suicide. That’s the game isn’t it? And when they do, American athletes will wear special cleats and patches on their jerseys to help raise awareness about suicide prevention during September games. Some of the profits from selling game-worn suicide awareness uniforms will trickle down to non-profits aiming to help prevent suicide. Will it solve the crisis? Doubtful. Until then, it’ll remain a silent killer in our great nation.
But it doesn’t have to be like this.
During this Suicide Prevention Month, let’s start talking about how we can solve this problem. If you want to do your part, reach out to friends and family, the people who you don’t hear from often. But they’re not the only people who could be contemplating ending their life. The funniest and kindest people need a check-in, too. Often people will hidetheir feelings of emptiness by making others smile.
The less shame attached to suicide ideation, the more likely we can fix this crisis. We need to talk about suicide to find a way to help the nearly 50,000 Americans a year who need help finding a reason to stay here. Fostering human connection is a good place to start.
If someone you know is struggling with mental health issues or suicide, here’s some resources:
National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 1-800-273-8255 (Veterans in crisis, press “1” to be directed to local VA resources)
Crisis Text Line: Text HOME to 741-741