September is National Suicide Prevention Month. Understanding the scope of who suicide effects, the consequences of suicide and the resources available for prevention and support is what drives this important month. Anyone can fall victim to suicidal thoughts or tendencies.

According to the World Health Organization, in their article, “Suicide,” “More than over 700,000 people die from suicide each year worldwide,” and millions of people attempt suicide every day. “Every year, 703,000 people take their own life and there are many more people who attempt suicide.”

        Suicide is more common in youth involved with juvenile/child welfare systems, LGBTQ youth, American Indian/Alaskan Native, and veterans according to Youth.gov.
    Youth that are affiliated with crime and put juvenile/child welfare systems have a higher risk of suicide than people who aren’t. “Suicide among youth in contact with the juvenile justice system occurs at a rate about four times greater than the rate among youth in the general population,” the article said.

      According to this study, it shows that LGBT youth are more likely to experience suicides other than heterosexual youth.  “Youth who are not heterosexual and/or express their gender in diverse ways are nearly one and a half to three times more likely to have reported suicidal ideation and nearly one and a half to seven times more likely to have reported attempting suicide than heterosexual and cisgender youth,” it said.

     In a study of multiple racial/ethnic groups in America, Native Americans and Alaskan Natives commit suicide at the highest percentage. Youth.gov continued, “Suicide rates among American Indian/Alaska Native (AI/AN) individuals are the highest among any racial or ethnic group in the United States.”

      In the ‘Veterans’ article from youth.gov website, it mentioned how veterans have a higher rate of suicide due to mainly PTSD and different mental disorders. It said, “In 2018, veterans ages 18 to 34 had the highest suicide rate of all age groups (46 per 100,000), representing a more than 76 percent increase from 2005 to 2018.”

     In the Center for Disease Control article “Adolescent Death,” suicide is one of the top three ways a teenager could die. It follows accidents and homicides.

Social media is helping to shed light on the victims of suicide by highlighting their stories. Recently there’s been a trend on Tiktok of people sharing about suicide victims, and many of them are young children who have been victims of bullying or sexual assault. 

EHS Counselor Nancy Watson offered some steps in case someone needs help with suicidal thoughts or tendencies. She said, “You need to tell your counselor, tell them what’s going on to help. Really you could tell any adult but it usually works out with us. It could be any adult on campus but you should tell a counselor.”

Below are listed resources for those who need to talk to someone:

Suicide hotline – 988

Sexual Assault hotline – 1-800-656-4673

Domestic Violence hotline – 1-800-799-233

LGBTQ hotline – 888-843-4564

Substance abuse – 800-950-6264

Arkansas Child Abuse Hotline 1-800-482-5964

Arkansas Crisis Center 1-888-274-7472

The Crisis Text Line: Text HOME to 741741 for free, 24/7 support