The third leading cause of death for teens is suicide.

“How do you become so far gone that death is the only option?” some people wonder, and it’s hard to explain except to say this: depressive episodes change your brain. Literally. They make you doubt yourself and your choices, make you apathetic and lazy to your own eyes and the eyes of others. Brain chemistry shifts, with increased activity in the amygdala (the section that holds intense feelings like anger and sorrow) and weakened neurotransmitters that stop information from getting through effectively.

Quite frankly, it’s hard to know what it feels like unless you’ve experienced it yourself, but that shouldn’t stop anyone from promoting awareness for mental illness along with actively trying to prevent suicide. The mental health of teenagers is often shoved under the rug, especially in the academic and social aspects of our lives. According to the National Center for Children in Poverty, (NCCP) 20% of adolescents have a treatable mental health disorder.

Every year when the video about recognizing suicidal behaviors is shown, people inevitably laugh. The video itself is funny, sure, but the underlying truth remains: it’s uncomfortable for us to talk about suicide in the school environment, and that needs to change. If it’s the third cause of death among young people, following car accidents and homicide, why does it need to be so taboo?

The week of September 7-13 (and also the entire month of September) is designated as National Suicide Prevention Week by the International Association for Suicide Prevention (IASP) and the World Health Organization (WHO), with September 10 recognized as World Suicide Prevention Day (WSPD). The movement is meant to educate people about suicidal thoughts and behaviors and prevent these thoughts from turning into actions.

People around the world, including Allen students, took to Twitter on WSPD using the hashtag #WorldSuicidePreventionDay to encourage those struggling to stay strong, to have hope, to get help. Feeling suicidal is more common than you’d think, and the more awareness that mental health issues gather, the better off we will be as a society.

This stems back to the way we, as high schoolers, treat others and how it can affect them. One smile could make a person’s day, while the opposite is true as well. High school is a time of change and scary decision-making, and it is always nice to know that someone is there to catch you when you fall. Suicide doesn’t have to be the third largest killer of teens in the United States if more preventative action is taken.

National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 1(800) 273-8255

Local Crisis Hotline: (214) 828-1000