National Suicide Prevention Week

Standing on the Golden Gate Bridge, with the fog whipping through your hair, watching the tourists take pictures, couples falling in love, and San Francisco bustling across the way is nothing short of beautiful. Sadly, a lot of people have used it as their last escape, a way of welcoming death from a beautiful place, a kind of suicidal paradise. Since its completion, the Golden Gate Bridge has seen over 1,300 people lose their life.
September 7th to 13th is National Suicide Prevention Week. Anyone who has known a victim of suicide or has felt some form of depression themselves knows the emptiness that suicide or suicidal thoughts can bring. Depression is the most common cause of suicide, with 80 percent of depression left untreated. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) 2008 report suicide is the 11th cause of death in Americans with over 32,000 deaths reported each year along with 395,000 treated cases of near-fatal self-inflicted wounds.
Recently there have been links to suicide cases due to an involvement of prescription drugs that cause mood swings, depression, and general irrational behavior. HealthNews reported a few months ago that warnings of suicidal tendencies will be listed under new Federal Drug Administration (FDA) warnings on epilepsy medications. The FDA is also underway looking into a connection between the popular allergy and asthma drug Singulair to possible changes in behavior and suicidal thoughts. Headlines were made last year when pro-wrestler Chris Benoit's drug habits were put into question as to the double murder-suicide of his wife, young son, and himself, again wondering if the constant use of steroids—which are known to cause paranoia, violent mood swings, and even depression—are to blame.
Most suicides can be prevented if the person is able to get help. However, some studies have shown that most people close to the affected person don't even know anything is wrong until it's too late. The hardest part of suicide is realizing you could have helped someone save their life. The six main risk factors of suicide are: previous suicide attempts, history of mental illness or depression, family history of violence or suicide, physical illness, drug or alcohol abuse, and feeling alone.
In addition to Suicide Prevention Week, The International Association for Suicide Prevention (IASP), the World Health Organization (WHO), and the World Federation for Mental Health will host World Suicide Prevention Day on September 10th, 2008. Because over 1 million people lose their lives to suicide each year around the world, approximating one death every 40 seconds, suicide has become a national health issue. The American Association of Suicidology presents World Suicide Prevention Day's theme as "Think Globally, Plan Nationally, Act Locally," in the hopes of saving lives through better research of suicidal behaviors and more programs dedicated to active programs and services to counteract those behaviors.
The Golden Gate Bridge doesn't need to mar its waters with any more bodies in order to bring attention to suicide as a terrible, and preventable, disease. For more information on the triggers of suicide, how to prevent it, and how to get help click here.