Shay Brody 

English 1302

Professor Hammet 

Essay 1 : Argumental Proposal 

March 7th, 2025 

Word Count : 1119

 

Suicide : The elephant in the room 

 

Someone you know and love could be silently struggling, it's not too late to step in and help. Suicide is one of the leading causes in death in humans any age. The leading cause to suicide is depression and untreated mental health issues. Whether you know this person to be struggling or not, you never know when that person has suicide ideations, you never truly understand what someone is thinking deeply. Suicide seems to be something that we as a society know is a problem yet we dont ever want to talk about it because we don’t truly know what to say. Death caused by suicide is at an all time high within teenagers and younger adults (The JED Foundation.  What are the warning signs of suicide), often times suicide in younger teens is caused by bullying at school, or home, being physically and mentally abused, and most of the time unknown sexual abuse. 

According to The National Institute of Mental Health (NIH), “suicide was the eleventh leading cause of death across the United States claiming more than 30,000 lives.” This was proven by the CDC (Central Disease Control) in 2022, suicide was and is still an increasing problem that is faced not only in the US but also all over the world. People are silently fighting these battles and no matter how many mental health facilities and medications there are, suicide always seems to win to those who are vulnerable and feel as though they have no where else to go. The American Psychology Association says “ Not everyone shows the same signs thinking about suicide”, anyone can be smiling on the outside but on the inside they could have suicide ideation. 

When looking up how to prevent suicide ideations and researching the thoughts behind suicide, everything kind of says the same thing, talk to those struggling, call for help, but how do you know if a person is struggling? According to the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention says you can notice warning signs when your friend or loved ones behavior and mood change out of nowhere, increased use in alcohol and drugs, isolation, giving away prized possed, and many more. These are simple signs one person can slowly start doing in their lives to show signs they are struggling and have a plan to permanently harm themselves. According to the American Foundation for Suicide prevention, people who have suicide ideations can also display shift in moods and become less interested in things they were interested in before. People can also show signs of extreme happiness as well before committing suicide. According to The U.S. customs and Border Protection, people who have suicidal ideation can have a sense of calmness and happiness before committing the act. 

Some people believe that those who commit suicide are weak or are selfish for committing the acts, but what those people don’t understand is the person committing the act felt as though they had no choice and didn’t feel like they had a purpose to be here. It has been debated wether committing suicide is a selfish act but it has been proven to be a myth by the Mayo Clinic and many other reliable resources. Those who commit suicide genuinley feel as though they have no other option and can’t get the resources they need. According to American Psychological Association “New Research in Suicide Prevention” states that scientist and mental health experts still continue to do their research on which age groups lead to suicide the most and how many of those people got help or not.  Although suicide is a harsh subject to talk about, it is a topic that should be discussed more often, the more we talk about it the more we can find long term solutions for those who are struggling with suicide ideation. 

When discusing about suicide, people tend to think it is a dangerous topic to bring up. But what others don’t know, is the more we talk about it, the more we can make sure those struggling have a safe space to talk about it with and can feel as though what they are going through can be seen by their peers and loved ones. According to the The Jed Foundation, “ How to ask someone if they are thinking about suicide”, although it may seem a little insensitive but being direct with the person and asking if they are having suicide ideations can be more than helpful to save a life. The article quotes “You might worry that asking them about suicide might put the though into their head, but research has shown and proven that it actually does the complete opposite”, being direct with people about their mental health struggles is helpful because then that person does not feel like they have to tiptoe around you when talking about those struggles.  It is always important to make sure those who are struggling with suicide ideation feel seen and heard and others understand the struggle of it. You are fighting with them and helping them pass this stage in their life. 

According to The National Institute of Mental Health, “Suicide thoughts and behaviors Among U.S. Adults”, about 5% of U.S. young adults have thoughts about harming themselves or suicide ideations and this was just in 2023. But over 300,000 people made no plans to harm themselves and committed the act on suicide. These numbers just seem to get higher and higher every year and it is something that needs to be talked about and more resources to educate those who don’t know enough information regarding suicide ideation. 

In conclusion, suicide is something that we as a society have problems with but if we talked about it more and helped those who felt as though they didn’t have the help they needed, the numbers in suicide attempts and suicide itself would drop instead of increasing. Sucide has been and will always be a silent killer, no matter how much information or resources people are provided with, it seems like the people who have to watch that person struggle don’t have the proper training and resources to get the help they need. Talking to your peers and loved ones to make sure they are genuinely doing okay and making sure they have a good support system, will make that person feel less likely to commit suicide. However, you sometimes can’t help everyone and suicide does end up winning in the end with the most vulnerable. Always be sure to look out for one another because it can creep up on anyone.