I woke up one morning to news I never expected to get, and it made me think about how we don’t realize when people are sick, and I don’t mean physically — I mean mentally. Mental health is talked about frequently but is overlooked because it’s the people who are good at hiding their feelings. Those friends who we see daily, laughing and smiling, could have that thought of hurting themselves or overdosing on drugs in the back of their minds.

Information on the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention website tells us that suicide is ranked the 11th leading cause of death. In 2021 there was an estimated number of 1.70 million suicide attempts and 48,183 died from these attempts.

But what’s even more overlooked is the amount of males who have attempted or died from suicide. Males are pressured to be powerful and made to look “not weak,” and those phrases and standards are the things that break them down the most. They can’t seek the help they need because they are scared of looking and feeling less than these standards.

The KFF (Kalser Family Foundation) website shows data on suicide deaths in each state contrasting genders. I gathered data to put in a bar graph to show the extreme difference between the deaths of males and females. The only right word for this is shock.

If this doesn’t make you wake up and see all the people suffering from mental illness, then I don’t know what will. We always say “Be kind” and “Treat people how you would want to be treated.”

When is that day really going to come? Because right now we aren’t.

There are countless amount of factors that play a role in why someone would think about or decide to commit suicide. Some factors are health, environmental (like home life), history, behavior, and moods.

When you wake up in the morning, the last thing you expect is a notification from a friend or family member telling you that a person you know died the night before from suicide. So smile at the person you’re next to, even if you’ve never talked to them before. Try to make someone’s day better because you never know when it will be the last time you see them.

If you are seeking help, please talk to a trusted adult or friend. You can also dial or text 988 if you are worried for yourself or someone you know who might be in harm’s way of themselves. You matter and you belong, and you should never feel any different than that.