My sad reality is that I can't remember the last year that I didn't know of a person from my town or college that made the difficult decision to take his or her own life.

I, myself, struggled with suicidal ideation earlier this year when I was in the depths of my eating disorder.

With the winter months upon us, seasonal depression is running rampant and real. Just this week, in my town, there was a fourteen-year-old girl who took her own life.

We are in an epidemic.

Our colleagues, acquaintances, friends, and family members are dying. Suffering in silence or unsuccessfully attempting to reach out for help.

What can we do?

END THE STIGMA.

On average, most mental illnesses arise around the age of fourteen. We need to bring this conversation into the classrooms at our schools. We need to stop allowing this topic to be taboo or embarrassing. We need to give our children the skills to fight these demons.

By the end of my high school health-class career, I could tell you how to detect sexually transmitted diseases, eat healthily and put a condom on a banana.

However, I could not tell you how to use appropriate coping skills, reach out to a professional for help, or detect mental illness in my friends.

Because of this, I spent many years battling anxiety, depression, and an eating disorder. I struggled to act normal and fit into the social environment I lived in that did not openly talk about mental health issues.

If you had looked at my social media accounts, you would have had no idea that I was fighting daily against multiple mental disorders. The people around me weren't educated enough to know that my social isolation, irritability, and weight loss were all symptoms of my internal battle.

I was lucky, because one of my family members had struggled with mental illness and suicidal ideation in the past, so my family was able to detect the warning signs and refer me to the appropriate professionals.

In treatment for my eating disorder, anxiety, and depression I was placed on medication, given a team of healthcare professionals to assist me and I was taught the appropriate coping skills.

Now, I am a totally different person. I have a personality, patience, and joy in my life.

I thank my lucky stars daily that I was able to dig myself out of the black hole that is mental illness.

Who knows how much pain and confusion could've been prevented had I learned about these skills in school.

We need to take action and place mental health education courses into our schools. We need to face this demon head on without fears of judgment or resistance. We need to save our children.

We need social change.

I hope that by sharing my story I can encourage others to talk openly about their own struggles with mental health or to reach out for help if they are struggling. I have been there and I can honestly tell you it gets so much better.

Even when it seems like there is nothing but you and your demons, I promise there is more.

Keep fighting, you're so strong and you have so much more to do. I believe in you.