September isn’t just the start of the Fall season or the signal that school is under way, it is also Suicide Prevention Month. Even if you aren’t suicidal or don't know someone who is suicidal, you should know why there is a whole month dedicated to Suicide Prevention and awareness.

Did you know that the number one cause of death to teenagers isn’t cigarettes or drunk driving? If you can believe it, the enemy that is slaying teenagers each year is, in fact, themselves. Suicide doesn’t happen overnight, and like many things, it can be prevented. The social stigma surrounding mental illness needs to be abolished, starting with the two most common mental illnesses teenagers face: depression and anxiety.

When adults hear teenagers “complaining” about their sadness and how much they worry, their response is “get over it”, or “it can’t be that bad”, or “there are people who have it worse”, or “what do you have to be sad about?”. These phrases aren’t the cause of suicide, but the ignorance and the negligence put into these words worsen the depression and anxiety symptoms. Those symptoms often turn into thoughts of worthlessness and hopelessness.

It is no surprise that teenagers have a lot of emotions. In fact, suicide is so common in teenagers because their hormones often rearrange their emotions and thoughts. A complaining teenager may just be another complaining teenager, but more often than not, this complaining teenager is hurting inside and is trying to find some way out.

Suicide isn’t a joke. Now more than ever, it should never be taken lightly. Statistically, teenagers who speak of hurting themselves most likely do. This could result in self harm or worse--them taking their own life. However, like I said before, suicide is avoidable and there are many steps we can take to prevent it.

To ensure that your child, best friend, classmate or student is safe and happy, just listen to them. Listen and take initiative. If someone you know says they want to hurt themselves or other people, tell someone. If they say how they feel worthless or they just want it all to end, tell someone.

You can be a hero just by saying, “Hey, you doing okay?”

Be a hero this year and stop suicide.