How Do People Kill Themselves

I have a vivid memory of the day that I found out a person in my life had killed themselves. I watched from the couch as two cars pulled into the driveway, and a handful of people I knew walked into our house. This seemed to be anything but a just a friendly visit. I was asked to go upstairs, and I did as I was told. As I waited to be called back down, I stared out the window. The sky was cloudy, fitting for the mood of what was about to be revealed. I remember wondering to myself, “Maybe he killed himself…”. I didn’t understand the gravity of that thought, but when I was called to the living room and sat down, I had a feeling that my guess had been right. And it was. A person who I had only known to be kind, funny, and loving had taken his life. He left two daughters, a wife, and the rest of us behind. Including me. This event has stuck with me ever since it happened. Suicides, especially in youth, is a growing epidemic.
When people feel empty, people may harm themselves to make themselves feel something. Going even further than that, people will use harmful means to kill themselves. If we restrict access to these methods, we can help prevent suicides. The most effective way to do this is restricting access to the lethal means of handguns. Firearm death remains the most prevalent method of suicide, accounting for 46% of them. According actionallianceforsuicideprevention.org, by keeping suicidal individuals from getting their hands on a firearm, it will delay the suicide attempt. Even if the attempt isn’t delayed, substituted methods of suicide are less lethal than firearms. It is even shown that drop in suicide rate is driven by decline in rate of suicide by the restricted method. When suicides by firearms go down because people are unable to access the weapon, overall suicide rates also go