Suicide now ranks as one of the US' top ten leading causes of death – even as suicide rates decrease in other Western countries, reported a recent article in Popular Science. 

This rise isn’t exclusive to any demographic either, with a report in June 2018 from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) National Vital Statistics System, reporting that rates have been increasing steadily across the board for the past two decades. 

Theories as to why this is happening vary. According to Dr. Anne Schuchat, principal deputy director of the CDC, suicide has historically coincided with economic turmoil and its increase in recent years may be an after effect of the 2008 financial crisis. The problem may have also been highlighted recently by the increasing number of people within the public eye that have fallen victim. But is this enough to change dated perceptions and pose the possibility that this may be an epidemic that is much more mainstream than we are led to believe?