September is Suicide Prevention Month — a month that deeply resonates with me.  When September comes around, teal and purple are everywhere. You’ll find them on bracelets, shirts, ribbons, posters and maybe even on your feed with the purpose of spreading awareness for suicide. During this time, awareness reaches its peak, making change feel possible, but what happens after the month is over?

For many people struggling with thoughts of suicide, those feelings don’t go away after September ends.

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Having certain months to raise awareness on certain issues is vital for our society. However, highly publicizing a topic for a short time can leave people with a false sense of accomplishment, leading to faded awareness when the month ends. This is a problem because mental health crises do not follow a calendar. When October comes, ribbons and posters will slowly be taken down, social media will slowly shift to the new trending hashtag and teal and purple will disappear until September comes around again. 

During my junior year of high school, I remember sitting in the library while watching students and staff take down the suicide awareness posters. As a student actively struggling with mental health, I remember being furious. Why wouldn’t they want to keep the posters up to make people feel less alone and let them know help was always available? 

Watching this happen made it feel like this was just a trend that would make its way back the next year. When I talk about mental health struggles after September, it feels less important or like it is some taboo subject, and — a lot of times — -struggling students weren’t being taken seriously.

In most places in the U.S., schools start back up anywhere from late July to early September, meaning school, a common cause for mental health struggles in younger people, is just beginning to pick up. The further we get into the school year, the more pressure comes along with it. Students are preparing for holidays, taking midterms and finals and some are sending in college applications

When the winter comes and we see less and less of the sun, a common mood change called “winter blues” takes effect on many people. The clinically recognized term for this is Seasonal Affective Disorder. This is a mood disorder that causes people to experience depressive symptoms during certain times of the year. 

Although many people experience this during the winter, there’s also a portion of people affected by this during the summer months as well. According to the National Institute of Mental Health, suicidal thoughts are a common symptom of this disorder. 

For many people struggling with thoughts of suicide, those feelings don’t go away after September ends. Suicidal thoughts can be an everyday battle for some. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention highlights that around 14.6 million adults seriously considered suicide, 4.6 million planned an attempt and 2.2 million actually attempted suicide. 

Suicide rates peak for the general population during the late spring and summer. When it comes to people between the ages of 15 and 24, it peaks shortly after September, according to the CDC. So why do we stop spreading major awareness after September? 

Dedicating a whole month to suicide prevention is superb — it’s what happens after that bothers me. Just because the month ends doesn’t mean the topic becomes any less important. 

So, I leave you with this: suicide prevention and awareness do not have to be something big. A hug, inviting someone to sit with you, a simple “How are you?,” saying “I love you” or just listening can be prevention. Most importantly, keep the ribbons, wear the bracelet and leave the posters up. Let people know they are not alone when September ends. 

 

Yasmin Acosta is a sophomore psychology major from Elkhart, Indiana. She enjoys reading, sudoku, putting together difficult puzzles and laughing with friends.