There is an ongoing problem in our society this day and age. The suicide rate of teens and young adults has grown significantly over the last couple of years, and this is something that needs to be addressed. Suicide has become too much of a joking matter and a subject many people take lightly. Anyone who has gone through depression or lost someone to suicide knows the personal pain that families, friends, and loved ones suffer after someone loses their life to depression. There is no day like today to start fixing this problem. There is no day like today to raise the awareness. There is no day like today to save precious lives.

We say that we do not notice the warning signs in the people that attempt suicide. This is what needs to be changed. The people of America, young and old, need to know the signs of depression that could lead to suicide. Four in every five youth and adults that attempt suicide have given clear warning signs that they would and will try to kill themselves. Suicide threats have become more common because some people treat it as a weapon. Threatening to kill yourself cannot be a joke; it cannot be to get attention. A suicide threat should be reserved for those who need proper care and counseling.

For some reason, our society is lead to believe that being different is a negative thing. In a field of daisies, imagine a rose. Would you pick one of the hundred daisies or would your eyes get drawn to the rose? You aren't thinking "What is that rose doing there? Its so... different..." You'd probably think, "Wow, what a special treat." If we took this outlook on people in our society that are not like the rest, we could make someone smile, make someone's day, or even save their life.

Perhaps one of the most offensive things someone can do is joke about suicide. If you know someone who has killed themselves or suffered from severe depression, you would understand why this is not a joking topic. If you had just lost someone to suicide and your friend was sitting next to you and said something like, “I have so much homework… ugh. I’m going to kill myself.” This statement has turned from something you never thought of as harmful, into something that crosses the line into a sensitive territory, just like an intruder on private property.

Statistics show that suicide is the cause of more deaths than cancer, AIDS, birth defects, heart disease, stroke, pneumonia, influenza, and lung disease all combined. This comes to be the third leading cause of death for college age students, and second leading cause of death among people from ages ten to twenty four. There are several cancer awareness and disease awareness campaigns, yet very few bother to address this common form of death. Every thirty seconds someone loses their life to suicide. This comes to three thousand people per day and one million men, women, and children per year. For every person that completes suicide, nearly twenty or more attempt suicide. These are the hard facts that we need to acknowledge.

We have a valuable job in this situation. Because the leading cause of suicide is undiagnosed depression, it is our job to know the signs that someone is clinically depressed. These signs are: talking about certain topics such as dying, feeling hopeless or having no reason to live, or being a burden to others. Other signs include increasing the use of drugs and alcohol, withdrawing oneself from social contact, mood swings, sleeping too much or too little, and talking about revenge. If we are aware of these signs and symptoms of depression, we will be able to get help for those who need it. Depression is a serious disease that cannot go untreated. Counseling and medication are the most common treatments.

Two years ago my sister, Kara, lost her best friend to depression. He took his own life on June seventh 2013. Although I never got the chance to meet Kara’s dear friend Dyan because they lived in Minnesota, I hated seeing the pain my sister went through and still goes through every day. When I saw someone I love so dearly hurt so deeply, I realized that someday I want to do something to help prevent these all-too-common, heartbreaks.

Suicide does not only affect the family and friends, it truly affects the world. Some believe suicide takes away the pain, when in reality it only transfers it to those who are still here on the earth--it widens the pain. So friends, I say again, there is no day like today to educate the young and the old. No day like today to stop the offensive joking. There is no day like today to let our voices be heard and there is no day like today to speak up for those who have lost their battle with depression. So, join me in the start of a movement to bring awareness to all people, everywhere.