2012 National Strategy For Suicide Prevention

“I just wanted [suicide] to come across in a way that kids would be frightened, but confused, and in a way that they would talk about it because it’s something that’s happening all the time” explains Selena Gomez, on her break-out Netflix show 13 Reasons Why (Jensen). 13 Reasons Why is a show that investigates the suicide of a teen girl named Hannah Baker and the signs that could have been seen by her friends and family around her. This is an accurate representation of society today. Suicide is a mental illness directly linked to depression, a mental disease becoming exponentially more common in the United States with an estimated 8 out of 100 teens having serious depression as of 2014 (Anxiety). These illnesses need to be recognized and given

Symptoms have been discovered such as an irritable or angry mood, unexplained aches and pains, extreme sensitivity to criticism, and withdrawing from people (Dumke, Lisa Flores, et al.). These warning signs are important for people to know, so they can notice if someone is suffering from depression.. The 2012 National Strategy for Suicide Prevention focuses on increasing prevention by, “Integrating suicide prevention into health care policies, encouraging the transformation of health care systems to prevent suicide, changing the way the public talks about suicide and suicide prevention, and improving the quality of data on suicidal behaviors to develop increasingly effective prevention efforts” (Oliver). As a matter of fact, there are things that should and should not be said when it comes to approaching people who are struggling with suicidal thoughts and ideations. Therefore, make sure that people know where to get help, emphasize prevention, and help to identify treatments. Major things you should not do or tell a suicidal person is to glorify suicide, act like it is a common event, present it as a inexplicable event, or give detailed methods or descriptions (Gould). The next step to prevent suicide is to take drastic measures to improve the wellbeing of people suffering with depression. Schools need to provide help, teens need to pay attention to their peers, parents should notice their child’s behavior, and there should be a decrease in technology and society standards. Knowing the risk factors and warning signs can help determine if someone is at risk for suicide (National). Schools specifically need to inform students and parents of these warning signs and provide services or clubs they can join to help them. The first people who will notice that a teen is having suicidal thoughts is their peers around them. Most of the teens who have suicidal thoughts feel hopeless, alone, have low