@TraumaTherapySD

  • Suicide Prevention Month

     

    September is National Suicide Prevention month. It is intended to highlight efforts at suicide prevention and reduce the stigma around talking about suicide, suicidal thoughts and suicide attempts.

    According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), it appears that death by suicide in the US decreased from 2019 to 2020, which seems to be reversing a trend of increasing rates of suicide since about 2000.

    That being said, suicide remains the 11th leading cause of death in the US. But that is still much too high and of course, it doesn’t highlight intersectional matters.

    According to a study published by the American Academy of Peditarics in 2018, 14% of transgender adolescents reported a previous suicide attempt, which is significantly higher than among cisgender youth.

    And according to the 2015 US Transgender Survey, 82% of gender diverse adults reported having seriously thought about suicide in their liftetime, and 48% reported having made an attempt.

    , 90% of those who died by suicide had a diagnosable mental health condition at the time of their death, and among those with a diagnosed mental illness, 44% did not receive treatment within the last year.

    Suicidal individuals are not attention seek, at least not in a negative sense. They are seeking attention to the pain they are in that feels unbearable. It is important to have compassion for them and ourselves if we have suffered like that.

    You are not alone, and help is available.

    Leave a reply:

    Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked*