Did you know that suicide is the 10th leading cause of death overall in the United States?
The 2nd leading cause of death among individuals between ages of 10 and 34?
And the 4th leading cause of death among individuals between ages of 35 and 54.
I had no idea that there were more than 2 and a half times as many suicides in the United States as there were homicides.

Widely reported studies modeling the effect of the COVID-19 Pandemic on suicide rates, predicted increases ranging from 1% to 145%. Essentially, this is another pandemic, a mental-demic, that very few people are talking about.
Since the Pandemic began, $175 billion in emergency funding has been allocated to hospitals and other medical facilities, but less than %1 of that has gone specifically to mental health and substance abuse services. With suicide rates predicted to increase, how can we prevent this issue without adequate financial support? This past New Year’s Eve, my mom and my aunt spoke at 11pm EST, so my aunt could wish my mom a happy new year before the ball dropped. 7 hours later, at 6am, my mom abruptly received a call from my cousin Paige, Shari’s daughter. Paige, hysterically crying, relayed to my mom that Shari had died by suicide, only a couple of hours after their last phone call.

This devastation changed our entire family’s lives forever. We had no idea that she was this deeply depressed. It made me realize how impactful death by suicide is and inspired my mission for no one to experience how deeply my family mourned, and how deeply Shari suffered. This traumatic experience inspired the core of my senior thesis project. Currents, an ever-evolving sociocultural movement, that embarks to bring awareness to suicide prevention, and de-stigmatize open dialogue about mental health. Currents’ movement is conceptualized to manifest in a bright lens which celebrates seeking help instead of seeking self-inflicted fatality. It’s target audience is ages 15-35.