Hope Magazine
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EDITORS NOTE:
At the tender age of 18, I made my first of several suicide attempts. “Dear Mike,” I wrote, “I am done. I can’t do this anymore. Thank you for being my big brother. I love you.” I set the pencil down, swallowed the last of the pills and got in bed.
FACT: Suicide is on the rise. According to the CDC, suicide rates have increased 30% since 1999. In 2018, 48,344 lives were lost to suicide, a staggering number that can no longer be ignored. Currently, Utah ranks sixth in the nation for highest suicides.
FACT: Depression is the psychiatric diagnosis most commonly associated with suicide. One out of every 16 people who are diagnosed with depression, go on to end their lives through suicide.
This semester we had the opportunity to choose a social or local issue that has affected us personally. For me, it was easy. Depression is my nemesis. I know its all-consuming darkness. I have carried its weight on my soul and for 35 years I have fought its rigorous battle.
This magazine showcases the very real issues of suicide and depression that plagues us today. It uses the most recent data collected in a collaborative manner to provide statistical facts about suicide. It highlights the very definition of depression and delves into the substance of what depression is. Its root causes, and what symptoms it unloads onto it’s unassuming host.
My main objective of this magazine was to use it as a platform to SPEAK UP. For too many years, mental health, suicide and even depression were taboo. Something people would not talk about. That stops TODAY. Through the graphics in this magazine, I speak volumes. Through songs, I speak to the heart and from my own personal story I speak of hope-so that others who are going through a rough bout of depression know they aren’t alone. My passion for this topic is quite clear, and eminates throughout the magazine. The statistics of this magazine are brutal. I hope that it will elicit my readers to really think about this cause, and hopefully it can inspire them to join the fight.
Prevention of suicide starts with YOU, by speaking up and ending the stigma of mental health.“From individuals and communities to employers and healthcare professionals, everyone can play a role in efforts to help save lives and reverse this troubling rise in suicide.” (cdc.org) My hope as you read this magazine is that you will feel my passion for this project, question for yourself why suicide is on the rise and get involved.
At the tender age of 18, I made my first of several suicide attempts. “Dear Mike,” I wrote, “I am done. I can’t do this anymore. Thank you for being my big brother. I love you.” I set the pencil down, swallowed the last of the pills and got in bed.
FACT: Suicide is on the rise. According to the CDC, suicide rates have increased 30% since 1999. In 2018, 48,344 lives were lost to suicide, a staggering number that can no longer be ignored. Currently, Utah ranks sixth in the nation for highest suicides.
FACT: Depression is the psychiatric diagnosis most commonly associated with suicide. One out of every 16 people who are diagnosed with depression, go on to end their lives through suicide.
This semester we had the opportunity to choose a social or local issue that has affected us personally. For me, it was easy. Depression is my nemesis. I know its all-consuming darkness. I have carried its weight on my soul and for 35 years I have fought its rigorous battle.
This magazine showcases the very real issues of suicide and depression that plagues us today. It uses the most recent data collected in a collaborative manner to provide statistical facts about suicide. It highlights the very definition of depression and delves into the substance of what depression is. Its root causes, and what symptoms it unloads onto it’s unassuming host.
My main objective of this magazine was to use it as a platform to SPEAK UP. For too many years, mental health, suicide and even depression were taboo. Something people would not talk about. That stops TODAY. Through the graphics in this magazine, I speak volumes. Through songs, I speak to the heart and from my own personal story I speak of hope-so that others who are going through a rough bout of depression know they aren’t alone. My passion for this topic is quite clear, and eminates throughout the magazine. The statistics of this magazine are brutal. I hope that it will elicit my readers to really think about this cause, and hopefully it can inspire them to join the fight.
Prevention of suicide starts with YOU, by speaking up and ending the stigma of mental health.“From individuals and communities to employers and healthcare professionals, everyone can play a role in efforts to help save lives and reverse this troubling rise in suicide.” (cdc.org) My hope as you read this magazine is that you will feel my passion for this project, question for yourself why suicide is on the rise and get involved.
