Every 40 seconds someone in the world dies by suicide. Every 41 seconds someone is left behind.

Every 40 seconds someone in the world dies by suicide. Every 41 seconds someone is left behind.

What am I doing?

On June 9, 2012 I will join thousands in San Francisco, CA who are taking steps to save lives. The goal of this journey, which will begin at dusk and finish at dawn, is to raise funds for suicide prevention. I will help end the silence and erase the stigma surrounding suicide and its causes, encourage those suffering from mental illness to seek treatment, and show support for the families and friends of the over 30,000 Americans who die by suicide each year. Suicide is the third leading cause of death among teens and young adults and the second leading cause of death for college students.

What can you do?

Please help end the silence. You can register for the walk here, or if you like you can support us by visiting our team webpage.

Please help save lives, reach out to those devastated from losing a loved one to suicide and help create an outlet to help end the silence.

So many lost, so many left behind and all preventable.
~Anna

Source
More facts about suicide from theWorld Health Organization (WHO)

•In the year 2000, approximately one million people died from suicide: a "global" mortality rate of 16 per 100,000, or one death every 40 seconds.
-It's 2012 now! How many have been lost? Read the next line--too many

•In the last 45 years suicide rates have increased by 60% worldwide. Suicide is now among the three leading causes of death among those aged 15-44 years (both sexes); these figures do not include suicide attempts up to 20 times more frequent than completed suicide.

•Suicide worldwide is estimated to represent 1.8% of the total global burden of disease in 1998, and 2.4% in countries with market and former socialist economies in 2020.

•Although traditionally suicide rates have been highest among the male elderly, rates among young people have been increasing to such an extent that they are now the group at highest risk in a third of countries, in both developed and developing countries.

•Mental disorders (particularly depression and substance abuse) are associated with more than 90% of all cases of suicide; however, suicide results from many complex socio-cultural factors and is more likely to occur particularly during periods of socioeconomic, family and individual crisis situations (e.g. loss of a loved one, employment, honor).
- WHO

Unfortunately the list goes on. To learn more you can visit the AFSP website here.