“Mental illness may be a life sentence for some of us. But it does not have to be a death sentence.” – Mauro Ranallo

All statistics I present in this blog I have taken from sources such as WHO, NIMH and NAMI. There are studies that come up with different numbers for most of these statistics but I tried to keep it somewhere in the middle of every number I found. I can’t promise I’ll get around to directly sourcing them unless someone requests it.

I have begun typing this blog just before midnight. I have completed a full day of sleeping in, grinding through work, and arriving home for dinner. In that 24 hour time period, somewhere around 125 Americans killed themselves. That comes out to one every 11-12 minutes. Watch the clock, in 12 minutes another person in this country has ended their life. I hope to god that made you as uncomfortable as it does to me because it is about damn time we start feeling uncomfortable about this many people dying. Suicide is not just a problem. Not a talking point to debate. It is an epidemic on a grand scale. It is the real state of emergency we should be talking about. But we’re not. And that is the problem.

In previous posts I know I’ve thrown out a lot of statistics and I will likely repeat some here but it is necessary to really exam these numbers but also remember they are so much more than statistics. Those 125 suicides were people, people who were living their life just like we are now. They were fathers, mothers, siblings, spouses, children, friends and coworkers. They were just like you or I except they had reached a breaking point. For one reason or another they could not go on and they took their own lives. Leaving those spouses, those children, those parents, those friends behind. If you aren’t aware of anyone in your close circle that is struggling with mental health, it’s only because they haven’t told you. Mental health impacts us all, and I guarantee someone in your life either will need you, or needs you right now.

Let’s look at some general stats on the subject:

-Men kill them selves at 3.5 times the rate of women but women will attempt suicide at twice the rate of men. So we know this impacts both genders almost equally.

-From the ages of 10-34, suicide is the 2nd leading cause of death, only behind accidental deaths such as car accidents. The most heart breaking part of this to me is that you can take any smaller range out of that and it remains true. In 2016 an estimated 436 10-14 year old American children took their own life. Children are just as at risk as adults.

-As we grow older suicide drops in the rankings, but for Americans as a whole it is still the 10th leading cause of death.

-LBGT youth are 3 times as likely to attempt suicide.

-If those children or young adults come from a home that rejects them based on their sexual orientation they are 8 times more likely than those whose families accept them.

-In 2017, 47,173 Americans killed themselves.

-However, the estimated number of attempts is somewhere between 1.1-1.4 MILLION.

-In one year, over 1,000,000 Americans attempted to end their life.

This is a crisis and unfortunately it is only getting worse. Suicide rates are on a steady and reliable increase year by year yet nothing is changing. And nothing will change until we start talking about this issue.

So why is this happening?

Over 50% of all Americans who kill themselves suffer from major depression.

Add in addiction such as alcoholism and we are at 75%.

Now add in other mental illnesses, such as depression, bipolar disorder and schizophrenia and we are now at over 90% of all suicide victims.

While not the main cause we are now at the heart of the issue. 90% of that 1,000,000+ are suffering from some kind of mental illness and have not received the help, support, guidance, or love that they need.

Obviously a major player here is the stigma around mental health. Much like suicide no one wants to really discuss the issue. The depressed, bipolar, anxious elephant in the room can be ignored no longer. 1,000,000 is 1,000,000 too many. And until we talk to those who are suffering, they will continue to suffer in silence.

I want to examine the connection of mental health and suicide a little closer. Particularly depression and bipolar disorder, mostly because they are the two I was diagnosed with. Call me biased…because I am.

Knowing that at least 50% of those suicide attempts involve depressions makes it clear that it is a key place to start. I think of all mental health issues, depression is the closest to breaking the stigma that surrounds it. It’s a couple miles away from that imaginary finish line, but it’s slowly inching it’s way there.

-An estimated 6.7% of all adults in this country have experienced a major depressive episode in the last year.

-An estimated 15% of all adults will experience at least one such episode in their lifetime.

-4.8% of men, and 8.5% of women have depression.

-An estimated 37% of those people receive absolutely no treatment for their depression, while 13% receive help from a professional but no medicine and 6% receive medicine with no professional help.

That leaves 44%, less than half, who receive both proper treatment and medicine.

Let’s get real scary now. Let’s talk about children with depression.

-In 2016 an estimated 3.1 million Americans aged 12-17 suffered at least one major depressive episode. That is a full 12.8%.

-Of those 3.1 million, an alarming 60% receive absolutely no treatment at all.

-Worst of all, around 90% of those who seek proper treatment, respond well. Almost 100% receive at least some relief from their symptoms.

If suicide is the 2nd leading cause of death for these children, and 50% of all suicides stem from some form of depression, then why are 3 in 5 kids receiving zero treatment? If these statistics were true for any form of physical disease we would be campaigning, raising awareness, and fighting to make sure these kids received the treatment they needed.

But we’re not.

Because we don’t want to talk about it.

Now let’s take a look at good ol’ bipolar disorder.

At some point I’d like to dive deeper into really explaining the in’s and out’s of bipolar, but that’s a song for another day.

-An estimated 2.6% of Americans are living with bipolar disorder. Which sounds small but comes out to about 5.7 million individuals.

-Bipolar results in about 9 years reduction of life expectancy…so that’s cool.

-Approximately 85% of those with bipolar will consider suicide.

I have to be honest, these next two are really tough for me to read. Like holding back tears, stomach in knots kind of difficult.

-Approximately 50% of those 5.7 million will attempt suicide.

-20% will succeed.

How.

How can this be happening and we are not in a state of panic.

How can we possibly continue to just ignore this.

To me the exact number aren’t the most important thing because 1 person taking their own life is too many. 1 person who feels so alone, so hopeless and so desperate is too many.

I know there are many who have never experienced any form of mental illness. There are also many who have and have reached a stable and healthy place. But there are too many who haven’t and have no support system around them because the stigma against their illness is so strong they are afraid to tell anyone for fear of rejection.

Because all they often hear is the same old bullshit that is recycled again and again.

“It’s a phase.”

“You’re just going through a hard time.”

“Yeah I have it hard too.”

“Try thinking happy thoughts.”

“Don’t be such a wimp.”

“You just want attention.”

“Suck it up.”

“Yeah that’s life.”

Or just as bad they are met with silence. An uncomfortable, awkward silence before the conversation can turn to something more positive and the fact that this person is sick is pushed aside because it is too hard to talk about.

Well you know what? If you are someone have such a hard time talking about, suck it up. If you think suicide threats are someone just looking for attention then give it to them because it may be a life or death situation that you are willing to walk away from.

Every single one of those thoughts has passed through their mind and beaten them down again and again, making it all the much harder to talk about what is going on. Should you be lucky enough that someone has opened up to you then realize you are in a moment that could forever change their life.

This stigma is taking the lives of family members and friends loved ones every day and as a country we stand by and do nothing for fear of discomfort. It’s well beyond time to break that stigma. Inch by inch we must push forward until we are willing to look at mental illness like any other illness.

It’s time to talk about it.

-Andrew Woods