********** If you are having active thoughts of suicide and/or self-injury, I urge you call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255, or dial 911**********

Every year, over 44 THOUSAND people die by suicide. EVERY. SINGLE. YEAR. That means over 44 thousand of our moms, dads, uncles, brothers, cousins, sisters, best friends, teachers, co workers, bosses, and students take their own lives, every 365 days. Suicide is the tenth leading cause of death in the united staes, but it is the SECOND leading cause of death in people aged 12-19. We need to make a concious effort in trying to understand why people commit suicide, and what we can do to help prevent it.

To bring awareness to suicide, we must try our best to understand it .One of the biggest misconceptions surrounding suicide has to do also with mental health. The relationship between mental health and suicide is not as clear cut as one would think. It's actually kind of complicated and can be confusing (hence why we need to makean active effort to understand it more). While the two conditions are related, it doesnt mean they are always synonomis. The majority of individuals who have a mental illness such as Bipolar disorder, Depression, and Schizophrenia, do not die by suicide. However, the majority of people who commit suicide, have been diagnosed with a mental illness. It's time to stop the stereotype that is "because someone has a mental illness, that means theyre going to commit suicide". Its actually time to stop stereotyping and stigmas all together, period. MENTAL ILLNESS DOES NOT = SAD, SUICIDAL, DEPRESSED.

We need to stop thinking that the way media and Hollywood portrays people who are suicidal is true 100% of the time. If you haven't been living under a rock, you have probably seen or heard about the show Thireen Reasons Why. It is graphic and it is disturbing, but it has given a lot of people a way to start tough conversations that might not otherwise have happened. The only problem is that not all people who are suicidal, or have attempted, or even people who have succeeded in their attempt, have felt the way that the individual in this show did. Not everyone who struggles with suicidal thoughts, or ideations does or did what she did. Since the shows debut, I have seen people say horrible things about those with suicidal thoughts, and those who have had successful attempts. For example, I actually saw somone say online " you people seriously think its okay to kill yourselves because the guy you like doesnt like you back? Yall dumb Retarded". You read that right folks, thats someones real facebook status. Despite what you might think, making fun of this characters particular way of carrying out her suicide, invalidates and makes it hard for real people who have attempted to come out and talk about their experience. They fear that they will be grouped together as the Hannah Bakers of the real world. Its sad that they are right. Not everyone who has struggled with sucicidal thoughts, previously attempted suicide, or has succeeded intheir attempt has had the same situation. None of those 44,000+ people had the same situaton.

On June 5th, millionaire designer, Kate Spade committed suicide. Just about a month and half before that on April 20th, EDM artist Avicii committed suicide.A few months ago, Chester Bennington lead singer of Lincoln Park took his own life. A few years prior, Robin Williams committed suicide as well. All 3 of these individuals were wealthy, well liked, had a lot going for them, and seemed very happy. Well, clearly they were not. When the news broke of all of these tragidies, most people offered condolances. Then there was the ignorant close minded heartless people who went on to say things like "I dont understand how someone can kill themselves if they have that much money" "They did it for the attention" "Theres no way they killed themselves, they had it all" and "who cares" among many other horrendous things. This just goes to show that money, fame, and having it all does not equal or bring happiness all the time. Speaking from experience, you can be suicidal and have everything. You can have the perfect family, the perfect dog, the perfect house, the perfect grades, the perfect boyfriend/ girlfriend, the perfect car, the perfect everything and anything, and suicidal thoughts can still creep up on you. Stop believeing that suicidal thoughts stem from a less than perfect living situation, stop believing that suicide is selfish, stop believeing it is the cowards way out, becuase that is just simply not the damn case.

So, we have to learn. We have to be active in prevention. We need to ask questions. We need to stop stigmatizing, and stereotyping. We need to be kind. We need to have compassion for others. We need to love, not hate biterness or meaness . We just need to be there for people. Just be nice. It can go a long way. It can save a life. We need to do all of these things because someday somewhere, you holding that door open for someone, you paying for that persons coffee, you smiling at the person next to you, you asking someone to hangout, you telling someone that their shoes are sick, you just being nice, could be the reason someone who was thinking of ending it all decides to live another day.