Max is a long time volunteer turned employee for mindyourmind as a Youth Outreach Assistant. He enjoys blogging, cats, and the state of Utah. Check him out on Twitter: @maxamilli

Youth suicide is never an easy topic to talk about, most times people just push it into a corner and refuse to acknowledge it until it balloons to such a size that it can no longer be ignored – a dangerous elephant in the room. An interesting study was recently released that detailed suicide rates amongst men and women in all countries around the globe, with rather surprising results. The study concluded that New Zealand ranked number one in women’s suicides and number three in men’s. The worst part about this is that New Zealand, while leading the world right now, has had times where their suicide rates were higher!

One of the most important reasons to discuss suicide is to try to figure out why it happens and how to put an end to it. In New Zealand, statistics show that “2.3% of youth in New Zealand access mental health services, but that 15-20% needed it.” This shows that there is a lack of awareness as well as resources or funding that go into mental illness.

The most promising part of the aftermath of the study was that New Zealand’s prime minister, John Key, said “Youth suicide is an issue I'm particularly interested in trying to address, and if we get a second term, I'm going to throw resources as a department, Prime Minister and Cabinet to try and resolve or at least lower the youth suicide rate in New Zealand.”

It’s sad to think that some places have youths looking for ways to get help but there aren’t enough resources to get the help out to them, sometimes all you need is the smallest presence and youth will find you.

You can check out the original article here: http://tvnz.co.nz/national-news/highest-suicide-rate-not-surprising-4356183