Editorial: Address suicide by respecting mental health

It is always hard to lose a loved one.

Whether it happens because of disease or accident or criminal act, death is a gut punch. It hits hard and deep. It is aching and empty.

When the loss is self-inflicted, it leaves something else behind. Families and friends can struggle with questions. What did I miss? What could I have done? Why did this happen?

More people are facing those questions as suicide rates rise. For nine years, the number of suicides in Westmoreland County every year averaged 53. In 2022, there were 59 as of Wednesday with three days still left on the calendar.

Maybe six doesn’t seem like a significant difference. It’s a small number. Is it a big deal? Statistically, yes. It’s an 11.3% increase over the average.

But suicide can’t be measured merely in numbers and percentages. Every incident is a spiderweb of trauma. Any increase is too much.

It affects everyone. Suicide doesn’t discriminate on the basis of gender, income, culture or religion.

In July 2022, the U.S. placed a priority on suicide prevention with a dedicated National Suicide Prevention Lifeline. It uses an easy three digits — 988 — to connect someone in crisis with resources to help.

It is a good start. It isn’t enough.

Nationally, we need more mental health resources. In Pennsylvania, we need more prioritization of the importance of mental health care. In our neighborhoods and hospitals, we need more mental health providers to prevent small problems from becoming the kind where it seems there is no way out.

And while increasing resources can be daunting and expensive, there is another step that costs nothing. Change the perception of suicide and mental health.

The Pennsylvania Statewide Suicide Prevention Task Force put out a report in 2020 that pointed to reducing the stigma around mental health as one of the most critical ways to address the problem.

We need mental health to be treated just like broken bones and cancer. We don’t tell someone to walk off a broken bone. We don’t dismiss cancer as something you can power through with the right attitude. Mental health needs the same respect.