September for Suicide Awareness
September Is Suicide Awareness Month. September 6th - 12th is National (United States) Suicide Prevention Week. September 10th is World Suicide Prevention Day. Today is September 10th.
These mental health campaigns exist because awareness of suicide falls short to the threat it poses. Together, with awareness, we can work to reduce the threat.
According to accessible data, one person dies from suicide every 40 seconds and for each adult who dies by suicide, there are more than 20 attempts (source: World Health Organization). Suicide is the second leading cause of death in 15-29 year olds, behind only road injury.
The problem only seems to be getting worse. It is predicted that by the end of 2020 (that’s soon!), the rate of death will increase to one every 20 seconds (source: befrienders). In the last 45 years, suicide has increased by 60% globally and it’s among the three leading causes of death between ages 15-44. Males are four times more likely to die from suicide than females, although females make more suicide attempts.
Suicide spikes in moments of crisis and 2020 has been a year of crisis. For those who take their life, they didn’t want to die. Nobody does. For them, it feels like the best, or only, choice. Mental illness can explain 90% of all cases of suicide. Depression is largely responsible.
We at Dork Dancing are not professionals, but rather a community that cares. We are coming together to heal, flourish, and advocate. We are learning to dance with depression. Join us online, or offline at one of our events, to connect. Our goal is to support.
To raise awareness, we would like to invite you to listen to a story from Kevin Hines, a Suicide survivor and mental health advocate.