Some people think that taking their own lives is their only escape from a difficult situation, but actually if a person takes the time to think about others around them, what their effect of their actions will be, and just simply take the time to think through other possible solutions to the problem; they will find that suicide is not the only option. It is never the answer to any difficult situation. Nearly 30,000 Americans commit suicide every year, and that number has been increasing more and more. This has been and is presently a very serious issue in thousands of people’s lives and needs to be addressed now.

Suicide is not only drastic, but it is also a very selfish act. No matter the person, there is someone out in the world that cares for you. If someone commits suicide to “escape” their problems, it immediately eliminates any type of resolution later. Killing themselves is never okay. There is more this world has to offer than just problems.

As a society, we should be very involved in this issue. The only way a suicidal person is going to change their mind is if someone steps into their life and tells them to stop and reassure them that people still do care and that the world will be different without them. The pressure of society on a person, whether it be peer-pressure, stress, or the guilt of not being perfect, this is almost always a leading cause for someone to feel like they need to take their own life.

We can help! We can step into someone’s life and interfere with their decisions by trying to change their perspective of the situation and change their minds about killing themselves. We can also offer rehab and encouragement classes to boost their self-esteem by loving on them.


Youth Suicide Prevention Program is an organization that can prevent this awful thing from occurring, but also it can provide an opportunity for society to redeem itself by reaching out and lending a hand to those who are really struggling to keep up with the demands of life. If more citizens would volunteer their time and energy towards this project, then we really could make a difference.

This topic relates to Transcendentalism today because the concept of Non-conformity is evident in this issue. The “societal reaction” to this problem is that as a society we choose not to believe that the reasons the person killed themselves is because of the pressure of society. Instead we want to think that it’s simply because in their own life, they aren’t happy. And of course all of society will put on a show and display (fake) sympathy after the person’s life is taken away. To be a non-conformist, someone can publicly come to the realization that “IT IS SOCIETY’S FAULT”, and do something about it to make a change.