When searching “public health in the news,” I expected to find hits regarding the food crisis in West Africa or the status on tuberculosis prevention in Haiti. However, the first article that I stumbled upon hit much closer to home: the fact that suicide has officially surpassed car accidents as “the leading cause of injury deaths in the United States.”
Furthermore, the demographics for higher suicide rate show that Caucasians and females are of highest risk. This could be a result of the fact that more attention in our public health sector has been devoted to traffic accidents and other less taboo topics, whereas suicide prevention has been an issue largely left in the dark.
However, because these demographics begin to target citizens when they are at age 10, American youth has a large responsibility to not only be aware of those around them, but to take part in prevention.
There are many resources for those at risk as well as their loved ones to get involved, such as the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, Suicide Prevention Resource Center, and the National Institute for Health.
Moreover, it is important to realize that as young globally engaged citizens, we do not live in a vacuum, and that simply being aware that the suicide rate is currently higher than the mortality rate of car accidents is shocking enough to force mindfulness as well as prevention.
Find out more in the Herald Online.
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