With increase in suicide, government should offer more help for people in crisis

Editor:

Suicide rates are higher than they should be and not enough is being done to lower them. In the United States suicide is one of the leading causes of death in young adults.

Currently there are government funds that go toward suicide prevention, but there is more that can be done. The government should take more action in the efforts to lower suicide rates.

The average number of suicides went up from about 81 per day in 2001 to about 121 in 2020. More than 90% of people who die from suicide have experienced some sort of mental illness. Between 2021 and 2022 suicide deaths increased 2.6% in the United States alone. In 2021 there were over 48,000 deaths by suicide.

Local governments could get more involved by holding mental health meetings in public places, with trained professionals to help people with suicidal thoughts, and give them a place where they can speak freely with others who have similar thoughts. These could be held almost anywhere with a decent size room, like a town hall.

The government could also create offices or help centers that are open 24/7 so that people have a safe place to go when they need help. If someone needs urgent help and feels they need to see someone instead of calling the hotline, they can go to a help center.

These offices or centers can also help spread community awareness about what others can do to help. This information center could serve as a location for people who want or need more information on suicide prevention, to get advice from professionals. Professionals at these centers can help families find ways to help a person struggling to cope, until they feel up to going in to get help themselves. These centers would be government funded.

These are some actions that the different levels of government can take toward reducing the rate of suicide in the United States. Their ability to help is crucial to saving lives. If attention is not brought to this subject, then there might not be any meaningful change.

Ryleigh Weader

12th grade student

Holley