It turns out that our environment contributes to the mental health crisis, and improving that environment lessens the suicide risk. If the goal is to prevent suicide, then we need to be looking at the world we create around people.
Those are good things. Properly dealing with the mental health crisis will require more research, tools, and treatment resources. These don’t grow overnight; achieving them takes years of hard work, so any progress is good news.
However, I agree with Time that the incoming Presidential Administration has not indicated a preference for continuing this work with research funding, new drug and therapy approvals, or respect for the science. That puts our progress at risk.
I was a little disappointed that there wasn’t much acknowledgment of situations we are powerless to change and thus have no reason to feel hope about. That aside, the advice in this article is pretty good. The first two bits of advice have helped me in times when everything has seemed overwhelming and hopeless.
Get specific and break down what seems like an overwhelming problem into tasks I can realistically do one at a time. Then, do the next task.
Ask for help because many things seem less overwhelming when we know someone else is there. They don’t have to improve everything; it just helps to have hope when we are not alone.
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Unspoken in her article but implied by the risk associated with loneliness, we’d also do well to create more community. What I think takes many of these risk factors from challenging to overwhelming is when we are left to deal with them alone. We might see these trends reverse when we have the proper support and mental health resources, but we’re not there yet. Too many people are alone.
I think there are two things that stood out to me about this research.
Young people who need help aren’t getting it. Part of the reason why there is no diagnosis is that many of these young people are suffering in silence. They are vulnerable for a number of reasons but we are not taking the steps to identify the issues and get them help. That’s on all of us. It appears to be a larger issue with minority kids, males, and other groups who historically have been underserved my mental health resources.
Guns are so effective at killing that kids with access to guns only need to consider it one time. It’s hard to get to a diagnosis when the method works so often. Only 33% of those lost to suicide by gun had a diagnosis, compared to 40% overall.
