Suicide in the Headlines

If you are sensitive to the idea of suicide, please do not read any further. This post might also include spoilers, so be warned.

Suicide is on Netflix and on YouTube, so now the news is talking about it. The first thing that brought it out to the limelight was the Netflix show 13 Reasons Why. The show centers around a group of teenagers dealing with the aftermath of their classmate's (Hannah Baker) suicide. The classmate left behind tapes of herself telling the reasons why she decided to end it all. Most of the teens featured in the series are trying to stop one boy (Clay) from leaking the tapes or giving them to an adult. They think that the one boy has some major plan that could hurt all of them. They all have plans for the future that may be hurt if their involvement in someone's suicide gets leaked, or so they thought.

This series has been in some hot water because of the subject matter, but it also created a conversation and awareness of the subject of suicide and mental health. Teens are depressed, and they are ending their own lives at a wild rate. Why are teens depressed? Sometimes people are just diagnosed with bipolar disorder or some other form of depression without there being any reason besides genetics or brain make-up. Another reason is outside sources like bullying or people speaking down (or unkindly) to them. In the series, the young lady that killed herself had witnessed the rape of a friend and had also been raped herself. Thirteen percent of victims of sexual assault attempt suicide. Ninety four percent of victims have PTSD. Sometimes pressure can also lead to suicide. Kids have pressure to do well in school, get a job, go to college, fit in, and do well in sports.

13 Reasons Why was a speck in the radar. It only was talked about briefly. Then Logan Paul had his controversy where he showed someone hanging in the suicide forest and started to laugh. He got in trouble for it, losing his status with YouTube and losing sponsorship deals. The main reason he got in trouble was because he showed someone dead from suicide and laughed. Suicide is NOT a joke. It is something that is killing people and destroying families. In my opinion, a lot people need to grow up and realize what is and is not a joke. He even said on the video, "This was supposed to be funny." Really, Logan? Going into somewhere called the suicide forest was supposed to be funny and a joke? Really? What part of that is funny?

So, what do we do? Have real conversations about what we feel and what we are going through. If someone you love is struggling with mental health issues, take it seriously. Also, encourage them to get help. We also need to fix the mental health system. We need to make it easy for people to get help. We also should allow those who have issues to get and keep jobs as long as they are getting help and what they have doesn't effect their jobs. Now, I know someone—I know people who, if they get help, they will lose their job, but depression won't affect their job, and neither would getting help. That's not fair in my opinion, and our system needs to be fixed.