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You have to be crazy in order to take your own life. Myth! About half of the people who die by suicide are not “crazy.” They are, however, clinically depressed.

You would know if someone was about to kill themselves because they would leave a note or say things like, “I want to die.” That’s not always true. Approximately two-thirds of people who die by suicide don’t leave a suicide note. And not every person is willing to verbalize how they feel about their life. Some people may act it out through aggressive or risky behavior, substance use, cutting or medication overdose, while others may isolate themselves from the world.

White people are more willing to seek help to prevent from dying by suicide than African-Americans or Latinos. It’s not that black and white. Though more Whites are willing to seek treatment for suicidal thinking, depression and other mental illness, African-Americans and Latinos are more willing to seek non-traditional counsel from their clergy before seeking treatment in an outpatient clinic or private practitioner’s office. There is evidence that more minorities express shame and embarrassment more often than non-minorities about admitting to mental illness or needing help. The pressures of society, family ideals, racism and historical evidence of mismanagement of the mentally ill, primarily in underrepresented communities, tend to make people of color less willing to seek out professional help.

Suicide is not a weakness. Suicide is a means to an end for people feeling intense emotional and psychological pain. We cannot judge the way someone is feeling about themselves. We can however, finds ways to make them feel wanted, appreciated and valued. We can help them seek the professional interventions necessary to make life feel worth living. But with all that said, the final decision to live is ultimately up to the individual.

#MentalHealth Myth Buster: Suicide Is For White People?  was originally published on blackdoctor.org

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