September is suicide prevention month. The month is about bringing awareness to the lives lost to suicide, the people impacted, the people who are struggling with suicidal thoughts, and anyone who has struggled with their mental health in general.
According to UCLA health, nearly 20% of highschool students report thoughts of suicide. As well as, according to the Control for Disease Control (CDC) suicide is the second-leading cause of death for ages 15-24.
Wake County states that two students in the district lose their lives to suicide a year.
School can be one of the most stressful things consuming a teenager’s life. It can make them lose focus of their mental health, until it spirals out of their control.
Anonymous, sophomore, said, “The main reason I’ve felt suicidal was due to school… I got out of it when summer started, and I didn’t have to deal with exams or homework. I got out of that mindset because I wasn’t overwhelmed by my grades and over the summer my mental health got back to normal and I think I’m ready to take on this school year in a different way than last.”
Schoolwork doesn’t have to be the only thing relating to school that causes people to feel stressed, or in this case, suicidal.
Anonymous, senior, said, “My sophomore year at Leesville, I dealt with a lot of conflict in my friend group — I got cheated on, and all of that made it impossible to keep up with my schoolwork… I felt like I had no way to improve my situation and the only thing I could think of was just ending it.”
Teenagers trying to manage conflict in their family and social life, and also keep up with school work will often feel the same way the person quoted feels.
When students can’t turn the people close to them, the best thing they can do is meet with their school guidance counselor. At Leesville Road High School there are six employed counselors,and every student at Leesville has one assigned counselor.
But school isn’t always in session, and counselors can not always answer emails immediately. So if a teenager, or anyone, is ever thinking of suicide and needing someone to talk to, the alternative route is to message or call a crisis help line.
These are not alternatives to 911, if someone is hurt or actively about to commit to suicide, contact 911 immediately:
– 988
–(866) 488-7386 (LGBTQ+ specific)
Suicide prevention month is about honoring those who have lost their lives to the struggle, people who have, or still do, struggle, and anyone impacted by them.
Suicide is devastating and a leading cause of death in the United States.
At Leesville Road High School, countless teenagers struggle with their mental health. During the month of September, students should be encouraged to take care of themselves, and check in with their peers because you never know what someone is going through.
