Mental Health Awareness Day was on October 10th. I saw an article posted on it here and it inspired me to write a little something about it.

I personally do not suffer from mental illness, but my mother was bi-polar/manic depressant, which resulted in her suicide in June of 2008.

I believe that the suicide statistics are startling:
32,000 a year commit suicide
80 per day
One every 16 minutes.
One every 16 minutes.
One every 16 minutes.
So during, your two hour movie at the theater, about six people have killed themselves.

This past weekend I drove to Tulsa, Okla. to participate in AFSP's Out of the Darkness walk. It was a walk to help promote suicide awareness/prevention. I'll also be participating in the walk in Wichita Falls, Texas on October 24th. I think "Out of the Darkness" is a very fitting name. No one seems to walk to talk about suicide or mental illness. I think people are ashamed and embarrassed by it. I believe that mental illness affects more people than any of us could ever imagine.

Besides, suicide is different from most other causes of death because suicide is a choice. Our loved ones chose to end their lives. For me, that was difficult to understand. How could my mom want to do that? Why would she do this to our family?

I finally came to the realization that I'll never understand. I'll never know why. I believe that those who commit suicide do not know the ripple affect it will have.

I would urge anyone who has lost a loved one, sibling, parents, cousin, friend, etc or those who are true survivors of suicide attempts to walk.

For more information, and to find a walk in your state, visit outofthedarkness.org.

If no walk is available, mark your calendars, National Survivors of Suicide Day is Saturday, November 21, 2009.