Suicide is the 10th leading cause of death in the United States with approximately 42,773 Americans dying each year. For every one of those 42,773 cases of suicide, there are 25 attempts making around 1,069,325 attempts happening each year. On a typical day, there are about 117 suicides per day on average.

All of these numbers are just numbers without a comparison to put it into perspective. In 2016 an estimated 1,685,210 new cases of cancer will be diagnosed. There are almost as many suicidal attempts each year as people being diagnosed with cancer.

Aside from actually taking action, 8.3 million adults reported having suicidal thoughts in the last year. 2.2 million adults reported having had plans made without following through with them.

With numbers this alarmingly high there is no doubt in my mind that people here on our very own campus are silently struggling through their days. With Septemeber 5-11 being National Suicide Prevention Week there have been people using their voice to help the cause, but what about now? The week is over. The hashtags are gone. The facebook posts aren't catching eyes anymore. The week may be over, their struggle is not.

I went on the hunt to find people on campus willing to share their story. The bravery and courage of the students who shared their stories with me were so inspiring. After getting their permission and promising to keep them anonymous I was given permission to share 3 of the stories with all of you, in their own words.

EIU Student, Male, 23

"I kept living because my time is not upon me yet and there are too many people that love me for the person that I am. Suicide is something many people have to deal with in their community throughout their lifetime. As suicidal thoughts had entered my head, I asked myself, what am I doing? Why would I end my own life to "better" everyone else when in reality I would be hurting everyone that meant something to me. As you step back and take a look at your life, just think, think about the people you talk to daily, think about the random messages your mom sends you while you're away at college because she misses you and wants to make sure you are okay, think about those moments when at Christmas you would be missed, all because you thought you were doing someone else a favor. Live life to the fullest. Take the speed bumps as they come and tell yourself you are going to overcome the obstacles that this crazy life throws at you. Keep living."

EIU Student, Female, 21

"I kept living because I knew that I had people who relied on me to be here. Being the eldest sibling in a family means that you have younger siblings looking up to you, wanting to be like you. On my hardest days, I asked myself if I wanted to risk my little brother, who mimics everything that I did, copying this action. I would lie in bed for hours going back and forth between talking myself out of doing it and going through the list of reasons why I should do it. It's a scary place to be, it seems irrational from the outside, but in the moment you can't see passed the pain, passed the feeling that you're just weighing down the people you love, being their burden. Some people have hardships that brought on depression and then the suicidal thoughts. I have no hardships to blame. This made my parents unsupportive. I was told I have nothing to be sad about, I have such a great life. Not having someone there even trying to understand, it almost killed me, I almost killed me. I kept living for my siblings in the beginning, but I continued living for myself. I got help, I started getting into running, I reached out to my doctor and found I have a serotonin imbalance, which led to medication, which led to many more better days. I still have difficult days, but I know now that I can overcome then, I can now pull myself from the bed that used to pull me in. You all can too. I share my story, not being it's easy, but because if I knew there was someone on campus who understood me, someone out there who could tell me "you're not crazy, I'm going through something similar" I would have never been so close to what would have been my biggest mistake."

EIU Student, Female, 19

"My body has ALWAYS been something I’ve struggled with especially being in college. The thought of being anything other than a size two was really weird to me. All throughout high school I was 2-sport athlete so I never really got that “break”. I was constantly going, working on my fitness and was able to maintain that size two. It was safe to say that the dreaded “freshman fifteen” that everyone talked about was one of my biggest fears heading off to college. You see all of these people post countless pictures flaunting their assets right in your face which is another thing that I felt was intimidating. You get this sense of jealousy because it’s unfair that they are comfortable in their own body and you’re not. I cannot even count the amount of times I’ve typed in key words like: diet pills, body wraps, body detoxes and how to lose weight fast into my search bar. I even was so desperate I spent $80.00 on a 28 day teatox. I always found myself looking at the end results of these “solutions” thinking “that could be me”. No matter what I did I knew it was never enough. Here I am a year later looking back on it and thinking how (excuse my language) shitty things were. I must admit that I am not 100% impressed with how I look today, but I’m taking strides to change that.I’ve come to believe that

self-love is so IMPORTANT and something that many who struggle with body image issues don’t really know how to go about doing. It helps to eliminate those who make you feel unworthy or inferior. Finding the light at the end of the tunnel may be a difficult journey, but with patience and hope you’re guaranteed to find your way. Although it’s taken some time, I’m starting now to feel like mirrors aren’t monsters and my reflection isn’t the enemy. Please keep in mind that Rome wasn’t built in a day."

As a student at Eastern I can only hope that this article is able to reach many of the students here at EIU. As a writer and future social worker, I hope this is able to reach others. That people see it doesn't matter what age, what gender, what reason, suicide is real, it's happening, it's here. It could be the beautiful blonde laughing in the front row of the class, it could be the quiet boy in the library, it could be your roommate, your friend, a stranger, the girl from the bathroom in the bar last weekend. Don't be afraid to ask for help and don't be afraid to be the help.

If you've made it to the very end of this unusually long article I would also like to introduce a new club to Eastern IL's campus. S.O.S. or Students Offering Support: Mental Health Awareness, Support, and Advocacy for the EIU Community. Some possible events will include a 5k, out of the darkness walks, bake-sell & carwash with proceeds going toward research, an end of the year banquet to acknowledge any and all donations and donors, a website in the making that will allow anonymous entries for those who would like to reach out for help or someone to talk to and we are also planning to donate money to a scholarship fund in the name of a student here at EIU who died by suicide. If anyone on campus would be interested or if anyone was wanting to make any donations please facebook message me or Brooke Kimball for more information!

Confidential Outlets:

National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 1-800-273-8255

http://www.suicide.org/hotlines/illinois-suicide-h...

Text "GO" to 741741

"Your voice is the single greatest weapon we have in this fight"