It's Time To Look At Suicide Squarely In The Eye Suicide is all around us. While all other causes of death are declining, suicide is rising. I bet you know someone who has had issues with serious depression, anxiety, schizophrenia or bipolar. Or has taken their own life. My first experience with it was in high school when my good friend started to tell me things like ‘Paul McCartney stole my music. He took my songs from the freezer.’ (She was a budding musician). And one day she came to my house and started saying things like this around my dad, who was a doctor. After she left, he said, ‘You know Julie, your friend has schizophrenia.’ I had no idea even what the word meant. Years later one of my family members took her own life and mental illness became real. Real, tragic and deeply personal. It is time to address this growing cause of death in our society. Speak Up. Speak Out. Selected Excerpt: Increasingly, suicide is being viewed not only as a mental health problem but a public health one. Nearly 45,000 suicides occurred in the United States in 2016 — more than twice the number of homicides — making it the 10th-leading cause of death. Among people ages 15 to 34, suicide is the second-leading cause of death.
…see more