Bee Gees

Bell Jar Speech Before you all walked into this room, I marked 32 girls hands with various color X’s. If you were one of those, could you please stand up at this time. [pause] Statistically speaking, out all of the girls in this auditorium, 32 will suffer from some sort of depression in their lifetime. Now, I would like to ask all the girls with Blue X’s on their hands to please sit down. Out of the four girls left standing, all four will self-harm. Would the girls with the orange X’s please sit down. [pause] Now I want everyone to look around... [pause] In the forty seconds that it took me to say this ….. SHE will commit suicide. [pause] She could’ve been your friend… your teammate… your sister, ANYONE is capable of committing, it’s just a matter of time. Approximately one million people commit suicide per year. [pause] That is one death... every 40 seconds. For every person who takes their own life, 20 attempt to do so. [pause] My name is Emily Smith, and about a month ago I was just sitting on my bed looking at Bell Jars from last year when my sister, Charlotte, came in and asked me what I was doing. I explained to her that it was time for the Bell Jar and how I had no idea what I wanted to do it on, and she gave me the perfect idea. So I spoke to Ms. Damron… and it’s already been done. Of course, so once again, I was in a predicament. The one thing that I had to go off of was my main topic. Mental Illnesses, and how the media affects the public’s perception of the stereotypes as evidenced in films and productions. After about a week of gathering my information and statistics, I finally found something that I was interested in. I decided that I wanted to focus on three Mental Illnesses. Those being depression, self-harm, and suicide. According to the World Health Organization, suicide has a global mortality rate of 16 per 100,000 people. It is the third leading cause of death in ages 10-24, and the 10th leading cause of death in the United States. 90% of those who died by suicide, had an underlying mental illness. What most people don't know though, is that depression can be inherited. It is one of the main risk factors for long-term depression as well as age, gender, and lack of support. Women are at high risk of their first major episode of depression at ages 20-29, while men are at a higher risk later in life, around ages 40-49. The media shows how ANYONE can commit suicide. From children at young ages, to the oldest person you can think of. Women may be twice as likely as men to experience depression, but the media does not forget to include the fact that both sexes can commit. A few weeks ago, I asked some of my friends to help me hand out surveys so I could gather how the students here at South have experienced depression and suicide. Out of the 451 students in this school, 47% admitted to KNOWING someone who has suffered with depression as well as 31% who knew someone who has had suicidal thoughts. I came to find an even more shocking fact though. 21% of your fellow peers have had or still do have depression. And 12% have had suicidal thoughts. [pause] Just think about that for a moment. This project has brought so many new things into my line of view. Some being sad and others joyous. But that is part of life, naming things for what they truly are. For instance my birthday, the 30th of November, is a day where the whole world is encouraged to notice and talk about the difficult issue of self-harm, and even though it is a rough and somber topic, the entire world finds it in their hearts to love and support all of those who have experienced it head on. You are about to watch my video and at the end of it, you will see the number for a suicide hotline, if you feel uncomfortable writing it down now, don’t be afraid to approach me after and I will gladly give it to you. I would like to thank everyone who has helped me make this project possible. I would like to send a special thanks to Ms. Damron, Ms. Smyth, Mrs. Christofely, and my big sister Charlotte. Without them this project would not have been achievable, so thank you so much for all of your help and support.

• published: 16 Nov 2016
• views: 2