through the night

The following numbers are estimates based on research and information gathered by reputable organizations all over the world.  Most experts would agree that these numbers are low.  Due to widespread stigma and taboo about mental illness and suicide, many people have not and do not disclose their own experiences of mental illness and/or attribute deaths of loved ones to suicide.  With that said, we've got to start somewhere, and this data is tough enough to stomach as is.

Below the video is the "script" I wrote to accompany videos and photos from last year's Out of the Darkness Overnight walk in Dallas, TX.  The quality of the footage is not awesome, but I wanted to offer a glimpse into what the walk is like.

EVERY YEAR more than 800,000- some data estimates more than 1,000,000- people take their own life.

EVERY DAY approximately 3,000 people die from suicide.

EVERY 40 SECONDS... EVERY 40 seconds.... suicide steals another person from our world.

For every life lost to suicide, there are at least 20 more who attempt suicide.  And a prior suicide attempt is the single greatest indicator for future suicides.

Every 40 seconds a life is lost and 20 more try to end it all, and because of this countless others' lives are changed forever.  Every suicide is a tragic loss of a human being-- a friend, a brother, a sister, a son, a daughter, a child, a teammate, a classmate, a cousin, an aunt/uncle, a coworker, a boss, a neighbor, a student, a coach, a mentor, a babysitter... a person who is a significant part of other people's lives, and a person that impacts communities and a country and even the world.  Every 40 seconds countless people lose a person in their life and that tragedy will effect them massively.

So every year, a whole lot of us come together and do this thing that we call "the Overnight."  We are people who have survived suicide, people who have endured suicide loss, people who fight suicidal ideation and the whole spectrum of mental illnesses, people who have walked through mental illness with those they love... we are people who know the demon of suicide and we need each other- to remember, to grieve, to tell stories, to laugh, to sing, to celebrate, to learn, to educate, to hope... and to walk straight into dusk and through the night into the dawn of a new day.

According to the World Health Organization, of all leading causes of death, suicide has the least money dedicated to it.  Despite the fact that across the world more people die from suicide than from wars, genocide and all other homicides- combined.  Part of why we walk is to raise money to fund desperately needed research, education, advocacy, resources, etc.  Please consider donating to the fight against suicide, and helping make it possible for me to participate in the Overnight- part of my personal fight against suicide.


Further resources:

• American Foundation for Suicide Prevention
• Center for Disease Control and Prevention- Understanding Suicide
• World Health Organization- Preventing Suicide: A Global Imperative
• National Institute of Mental Health
• National Alliance on Mental Illness
• Suicide Awareness Voices of Education