Suicide: A Major Cause of Death

Suicide has been a major cause of death in the United States. According to afsp.org, suicide is the tenth leading cause in the United States. Over 44,000 Americans die from suicide every year. The series 13 Reasons Why has been a debatable series about suicide. There are many debatable opinions about the series. “13 Reasons Why makes people aware of suicide. What Hannah Baker went through is what people usually go through,” said Micah Wooden. The series has a vivid image of what a person can lead to doing when they are treated brutally. The main character, Hannah Baker, made thirteen tapes for the people that were the reasons why she committed suicide. Hannah’s character is debatable in the series. “Sometimes Hannah did unrealistic things. People wouldn’t do certain things that Hannah did,” said Jaeylynn Jones. A lot of people debated that Hannah should have not blamed people for her own doing. They felt that she had a mental illness. “Mental illness is a state of mind. I think Hannah was very depressed and she had low self-esteem. That’s not everyone else’s problem. That’s Hannah’s problem,” said Wooden. Suicide is a very debatable topic, because no one knows what causes it. Is it mental illness, bullying, depression? “Depression, bullying, and low self-esteem can cause the act of suicide. There really isn’t just one thing that causes it,” said Jones. In the series Hannah blamed bullying to be the cause of her committing suicide. Hannah also became depressed towards the end of the series. According to medlineplus.gov, the causes of suicide are bipolar disorder, borderline personality disorder, depression, drug or alcohol use, PTSD, and schizophrenia. “I believe that bullying starts suicide. Anything can hurt someone. You never know how rude you can be until it effects someone,” said Jaz’Bryelle Williams.

A multitude of people believe that 13 Reasons Why glorifies the act of suicide. “All Hannah did was blame people for her own actions. The writers should have made it about her depression, because it wasn’t just everyone else’s fault. They made it seem like people should blame others for their actions,” said Cheyenne-Rose Dye. People believe that suicide causes them to take the easy way out. Actions do speak louder than words. “The world is so evil. We don’t care about each other’s feelings anymore. Hate causes death and death causes destruction,” said Williams. According to cnn.com, exposure to someone else’s suicide can cause other people to contemplate or attempt suicide. This is one of the reasons why people say that 13 Reasons Why glorifies suicide. We all wonder what is the cause or the cure for suicide, but the reality is that we will never know.