It’s Suicide Awareness Month

Tanya J. Peterson

Here's what's happening on the HealthyPlace site this week:

It’s Suicide Awareness Month
Suicide Awareness and Prevention
From the HealthyPlace Mental Health Blogs
Video: Understanding Bipolar Disorder: 5 Things You Should Know
Most Popular HealthyPlace Articles Shared by Facebook Fans
Mental Health Quote

It’s Suicide Awareness Month

September is Suicide Awareness Month. When you’re dealing with mental illness, other mental health conditions, or extreme stressors, your thoughts, feelings, and life itself can feel out of control. Sometimes, someone begins to think about ending his or her life. Some eye-opening facts:

Almost 45,000 people in the US die by suicide every year (nami.org)
Suicide rates have increased by 30% since 1999 (CDC.org)
There are about 123 suicides per day (American Foundation for Suicide Prevention)
Suicide is the 10th leading cause of death in the U.S. (American Foundation for Suicide Prevention)
Asking someone if he or she is thinking about suicide is helpful and opens up a doorway to talking and finding help; it does not put ideas in someone’s head (National Suicide Prevention Lifeline)

Suicide Awareness and Prevention

Contemplating suicide is a signal that someone is experiencing something that has grown overwhelming. The person isn’t weak or terrible. The person needs help. Help and suicide prevention aren’t just possible, they’re readily available if you know where to look.

That’s why Suicide Awareness Month is so vital. Misunderstanding and stigma abound. It can be a scary topic, and many people don’t know what to do if they’re feeling suicidal or how to help someone they think might be considering suicide. A big part of this is a lack of awareness about suicide and how to prevent it. This month exists to help remove the stigma surrounding suicide, help people know what to do if feeling suicidal, and help friends and family members know how to help a loved one.

What can you do during Suicide Awareness Month? Reach out—either for help or to help someone. Ask someone you’re concerned about if he or she is thinking about suicide. Provide resources in person or share them on your social media accounts (See Suicide Information, Resources, & Support). And visit the mental health blogs on HealthyPlace.com all month. Each blog will feature an article sometime in September that discusses suicide as it relates to the blog subject.

Together, we can talk and listen, write and read, reach out for ourselves or someone else. In raising suicide awareness, we can prevent it and lower the suicide rate.

From the HealthyPlace Mental Health Blogs

On all our blogs, your comments and observations are welcomed.

Feel free to share your thoughts and comments at the bottom of any blog post. And visit the mental health blogs homepage for the latest posts.

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From HealthyPlace YouTube Channel

I'm Hannah. I Have Bipolar 2

Understanding Bipolar Disorder: 5 Things You Should Know

Accepting your bipolar disorder diagnosis, taking the proper steps to get treatment and believing that you are capable of living a good life with bipolar disorder is extremely difficult, but necessary. Unfortunately, self-love does not come easy when you live with a mental illness. (Watch Hannah and subscribe to the HealthyPlace YouTube channel for more great mental health videos.)