The affect of invisible illness takes away many young lives. Recently, a life of someone I know has been tragically lost to the hands of mental illness. Everyone knew what happened. When I first heard about this tragedy, I was in mere shock. I thought to myself how did something like this happen? Someone I was not close with but knew of had been taken away way too soon. I was not even friends with this person, and it had made me so sad on the inside. Why did it make me so sad? Why did I feel that way? Why did this story cut into my veins so deep? Later after I heard more news about this tragedy, I thought to myself this person could have been helped. Things could have been different. But to say the least, it happened and we can not go back to change anything now. All we can do from here on out is look forward and prevent such tragedies like this from occurring in the future. Every mental health issue should be handled with great care. We need to raise awareness on mental health, because it is real and it is a serious state of mind.

Some of the leading teenage mental health disorders are ADHD, bipolar disorder, anxiety, depression, self harm, suicide, addiction, and self destructive behaviors. People who have these mind sets can be helped if treated correctly. Common ways of treating most disorders are counseling as an individual or as a family. Sometimes people will receive the short end of the stick, that doesn’t receive the correct treatment needed to be helped. Many times people who are struggling with mental disorders are sent to rehabilitation facilities, detoxification centers, or even put on a 24/7 hour watch. But that is not what we need to do here. What will help the most is not isolating them from their family, friends and the rest of the world but help the get the medication that they need. This way they are able to live a healthier life in the hands of their loved ones. Family support is the best support out there, nothing is stronger then this type of support system.

You should never compare your mental illness to someone else’s mental illness because everyone is different. You never know what someone is going through, even if on the outside they seem okay. Never assume someone else's life story just because of the rumors you have heard about them. Most importantly never put yourself into someone else’s shoes just to make them feel better. Stress, anxiety and depression are main leading factors in mental health disorders.

The top leading cause for teenage death in the United States is accidents. Accidents can include anything from motor vehicle accidents to unintentional deaths of any kind. When people hear about accidents of this nature the first thing they think about was if the person was on any medication, doing drugs or even intoxicated. No one ever asks or even thinks about if they have any mental health issues or disorders. Not all disorders need medication, but it can be beneficial in the long run. Suicide has become the second leading cause of teenage death in the United States. Suicide has passed homicide on the charts as of June 2016. Suicide rates are higher in rural areas for a variety reasons. Some of the main reasons include social isolation, access to firearms, financial hardship and limited access to mental health service care in their area. The states with the highest rates of teenage suicide are Alaska, Wyoming, North Dakota, and South Dakota.The states with the lowest teenage suicide rates are California, New Jersey, Connecticut and New York. The rise of suicide is a significant growing health threat and requires immediate action and should be handled with great care. Illness is the third leading cause of teenage deaths in the United States. Illness claims a good majority of death rates in teenagers. Illness's include cancer, heart disease and anomalies that have existed since birth. All of these causes can be decreased with the right help and medication.

The point that I am trying to get across most here is the fact that we need to raise awareness on mental health issues. We need to provide the right medication for people who are in pain. We need to remind our loved ones that they are loved. Nothing is worse than losing a parent, child, friend, family member or significant other to tragedies that can be prevented. Help that can be provided, or illnesses that could have been handled the correct way. The last thing anyone wants to do is see their loved ones be buried six feet under. The last thing we want is to see our loved ones pass away too soon. It is heart breaking to see such tragedies unfold right in front of our eyes. If we help one another out, we can give each other the support that is needed to battle through difficult times.