September is Suicide Awareness Month, and September 10 was World Suicide Prevention Day. It’s a subject many are uncomfortable to talk about, young and old, but it’s a subject that needs exposure, especially considering the latest statistics on suicide and overdoses.
An Alarming Report on Suicide
Time magazine reports that young people in America are passing away “in rising numbers because of drugs, alcohol, and suicide, according to new federal data.”
This data comes from The Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS). One of the most shocking details of this report states that life expectancy has dropped in America due to drugs, alcohol, and suicide. Since 1993, life expectancy has gone up in the U.S. and people have been living longer until recently. Life expectancy had gone up to nearly 80 years, but now that number has gone down between 2014 and 2016.
This report also explains that the death rates for American people from the age of 15 to 44 have gone up 5% every year since 2013 because of drugs, alcohol, and suicide. Time writes, “Suicide is on the rise in nearly every demographic…It is now the second leading cause of death among people ages 15 to 24, and it’s also the third-leading cause of death among people ages 25 to 44.”
The current rates of alcohol fatalities in the US are also a cause for concern as well. This report states that liver disease has now outpaced HIV as the sixth-leading cause of death for adults from the ages of 25 to 44, and while opioids are still the biggest drug problem we have in the U.S., alcoholism is still a significant concern as well.
A Rock Star Opens Up on World Suicide Prevention Day
While there are still stigmas surrounding mental health, depression, and suicide, those stigmas are thankfully starting to disappear, and many are reaching out for help. There’s a long way to go, but many people all over the world, celebrities, and everyday folks are coming forward and are not ashamed to ask for help.
Right now there is a greater need than ever to shed light on suicide and hopefully prevent more people from ending their lives. It’s also important to remind the world there is always hope and you should never give up. On World Suicide Prevention Day, Hayley Williams, the lead singer of the band Paramore, spoke out, and bravely shared her mental health struggles with the public.
As People reports, Williams wrote in a series of tweets, “I just wanna say that when my mind was super dark and hopeless, there was a part of me that felt safe being cynical and shut down. I’m trying to get healthier now…and it’s a lifestyle shift. Sometimes it feels uncomfortable…and I don’t always do it well…but I hope that if you struggle with darkness that you will try and remember to feel joy when it comes. I’m trying too.”
She signed off with an important message for people who are struggling: “If you feel darkness, I hope you’ll wait for joy. It will come again, and it’s worth it.”