September was suicide awareness month; this is a time to learn how to prevent suicide and raise awareness. Even though it is now October it is never too late to learn about suicide and have awarness. Suicidal thoughts can affect anyone whether you’re a teen, a parent, a grandparent, or even just a child. Having suicidal thoughts is not something to just put behind you, even if you only think about it once every now and then you still need to talk to somebody because you’re likely to continue having these thoughts and eventually acting on them.

Suicide alone has been the cause of death for 700,000 people per year, if not more. There are many signs that someone could be having these suicidal thoughts or even harming themselves. Some signs may be obvious while others are just small things that you may not even realize. Some signs you may notice are:

-talking about wanting to die (“I want to kill myself”; “I wish I was dead”)

-extreme mood swings (happy one day and the next day completely opposite)

-withdrawing from friends

– changing normal routine (eating, sleeping)

-getting the needs to take their own life (buying a gun, stocking up on pills)

If you think someone around you may be contemplating suicide, take the time to look for these signs, ask them about it, and help them get help.

Maybe you’re the one having these thoughts, if you are you need to tell someone. Tell a parent, or a friend, or a school counselor, or a teacher; tell someone who you think can talk to you and help you stop feeling this way. Maybe you have thoughts every now and then, but you don’t think you could do it you still need to tell someone because at that moment anything could happen. If you want to prevent suicide know the warning signs and risk factors of suicide. Knowing these things make them easier to notice, and you noticing and talking to them could be the one thing they need to help them.

Resources

–988 is the suicide and crisis lifeline

-you can chat with the suicide and crisis lifeline at 988lifeline.org