The Importance Of Suicide And Mental Health

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Recently, a popular TV series “13 Reasons Why,” raised the awareness of suicide and mental health. Suicide and mental health are big deals, since suicide is the “second leading cause of death for ages 12-24,” according to the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (“Suicide Statistics”). People attempt suicide for various reasons, and mental illness is a significant factor. Consequently, risk factors such as chemical imbalance in the brain, genetic vulnerability, environmental factors, and family relationship intertwine and cause mental illness. Among those mental illnesses, depression is one of the most common and heavily associated with suicide. Depression is difficult to identify among the young people because the symptoms are easily …show more content…

According to Lewis Wolpert, a developmental biologist, a lot of people are even unaware of the fact that they have depression because of lack of mental health literacy. In addition, social stigmas against depression such as “depression is not real,” “everyone has that,” and “attention seeker” prevent people from seeking professional help when they need. The cost of the professional help is another hindrance for people from receiving help (Wolpert). As a solution, mental health patients seeking help should try more accessible treatment methods such as self-help, and schools should promote the programs to reach out to more …show more content…

According to National Alliance on Mental Illness, 13% of children aged 8 to 15 experience a severe mental disorder at some point during their life. 70% of youth in the juvenile justice system have at least one mental health condition and at least 20% live with a serious mental illness (“Mental Health”). Dr.Jack Westman, a professor emeritus of psychiatry at the University of Wisconsin who has been serving more than 50 years to the psychiatric developmental needs of children emphasizes the importance of children’s mental health. Mental health problems among youth are critical because if not treated properly, the problems would exacerbate and cost more to the society. The population of children is decreasing and future society will “not be able to function” if a significant portion of children’s mental health is in danger. In addition, each child with a severe mental health problem cost society $2 million if they become adults without receiving any appropriate mental health problem treatment (Westman). In addition, treating mental illness during the young age before it is exacerbated will be easier and cost-effective

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