12/09/2026
๐๐๐๐ง๐ข๐ฅ๐๐๐| Su***de Prevention Is Not Seasonal!
โ๐๐ช๐ข๐ช๐จ๐ฉ๐ ๐ ๐?โ
A simple, genuine question that, when asked sincerely, might help save a burdened soul.
It is common for people to feel lost, anxious, distant, or simply tired of carrying what they cannot explain. There are burdens that sit heavily in the chest, problems that refuse to disappear, and days when simply getting through feels like an achievement.
Yet when people finally show signs of struggling, the response is often painfully familiar.
โ๐๐ ๐๐ฎ ๐ก๐๐ฃ๐ โ๐ฎ๐๐ฃ. ๐๐๐ฎ๐ ๐ข๐ค โ๐ฎ๐๐ฃ.โ
Sometimes, it is not.
And perhaps it is time we stop treating emotional pain as something people should simply endure.
Life is not always generous with the burdens it gives. Problems accumulate. Expectations become overwhelming. Financial difficulties, family concerns, academic pressure, relationship problems, grief, loneliness, and uncertainty about the future can slowly wear a person down.
Still, we have developed a habit of measuring pain according to our own experiences.
โ๐๐๐ข๐ฅ๐ก๐๐ฃ๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ฎ ๐ก๐๐ฃ๐ ๐ฃ๐๐ข๐๐ฃ โ๐ฎ๐๐ฃ, ๐๐ฃ๐๐๐ฎ๐๐ ๐๐ฃ ๐ข๐ค ๐ฃ๐.โ
They are not โsimpleโ simply because they are not difficult for us.
Psychological distress is real, and its effects can profoundly influence how a person thinks, feels, and relates to the world around them. More importantly, not all suffering is visible. Behind an ordinary smile may be someone struggling to keep themselves together. A person who appears strong may be exhausted from constantly having to be strong. Someone who suddenly becomes distant may be fighting a battle they have not yet found the courageโ or the wordsโ to share.
We see what people show us. We rarely see everything they carry.
And sometimes, people carry their burdens for so long that they begin to believe they have no choice but to keep holding on.
But what if the answer is not to keep holding on alone?
๐ช๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐ถ๐ณ, ๐๐ผ๐บ๐ฒ๐๐ถ๐บ๐ฒ๐, ๐๐ฒ ๐ป๐ฒ๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐๐ผ ๐น๐ฒ๐ ๐ด๐ผ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฟ๐ผ๐ฝ๐ฒ?
Not the rope that connects us to life, but the invisible rope of silence, shame, isolation, and the belief that we must carry everything by ourselves.
๐๐๐ฉ ๐๐ค ๐ค๐ ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐ง๐ค๐ฅ๐.
๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ค๐ง ๐ ๐๐๐ฃ๐.
๐ผ๐จ๐ ๐๐ค๐ง ๐๐๐ก๐ฅ.
That is what su***de prevention should ultimately be about not telling people to simply โ๐ฃ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ต๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐จ,โ but reminding them that they do not have to struggle alone.
This is precisely why su***de cannot remain a conversation we revisit only when September arrives.
The World Health Organization estimates that 727,000 people died by su***de in 2021, with su***de ranking as the third leading cause of death among people aged 15 to 29 worldwide. In the Philippines, the Philippine Statistics Authority recorded a su***de mortality rate of 2.7 deaths per 100,000 population in 2024, with the rate among males at 4.4 compared with 1.0 among females.
But statistics, no matter how alarming, can only tell us so much.
Behind every number was a ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด๐ฐ๐ฏ.
And behind every person was a family, a friend, a classmate, a colleague, or a community left to live with grief, questions, and absence.
This is why su***de prevention cannot be reduced to numbers, infographics, hashtags, or awareness posters.
๐๐ ๐ถ๐ ๐ฎ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐๐ฝ๐ผ๐ป๐๐ถ๐ฏ๐ถ๐น๐ถ๐๐.
And universities, cannot afford to remain outside this conversation. That responsibility should be taken seriously.
A university is more than classrooms, grades, examinations, and deadlines. It is a community of people carrying different histories, expectations, financial realities, family problems, and private struggles.
Students are expected to perform, participate, submit, recite, report, graduate, and eventually succeed. But somewhere between the deadlines and the pursuit of academic excellence, we must remember that students are people before they are students.
The same is true for faculty and university personnel.
Not everyone who struggles will ask for help. Some may become quieter. Some may withdraw. Others may continue submitting requirements, attending classes, laughing with friends, and performing well while privately fighting battles no one knows about.
These signs do not automatically mean that someone is suicidal. But they should remind us of something important:
๐ช๐ฒ ๐ฑ๐ผ ๐ป๐ผ๐ ๐ฎ๐น๐๐ฎ๐๐ ๐ธ๐ป๐ผ๐ ๐๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐๐ผ๐ป ๐ฏ๐ฒ๐๐ถ๐ฑ๐ฒ ๐๐ ๐ถ๐ ๐ด๐ผ๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐๐ต๐ฟ๐ผ๐๐ด๐ต.
That is why prevention cannot begin and end with a campaign.
It begins with a culture.
A culture where saying โ๐ ๐ข๐ฎ ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ฐ๐ฌ๐ข๐บโ is not met with ridicule.
A culture where asking for help is not treated as weakness.
A culture where listening does not immediately become an opportunity to compare suffering.
Because when someone says they are struggling, the answer should not be:
โ๐๐ข๐จ ๐ฎ๐ข๐บ ๐ฏ๐ข๐ฏ๐จ๐บ๐ข๐ณ๐ช ๐ฏ๐ข ๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ช ๐ฎ๐ข๐จ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ข ๐ด๐ข ๐ฃ๐ถ๐ฉ๐ข๐บ ๐ฎ๐ฐ, ๐ช๐ด๐ช๐ฑ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ฎ๐ฐ ๐ฏ๐ข ๐ญ๐ข๐ฏ๐จ โ๐บ๐ถ๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฏ๐ข๐ฏ๐จ๐บ๐ข๐ณ๐ช ๐ด๐ข ๐ข๐ฌ๐ช๐ฏ. ๐๐ฌ๐ฐ ๐ฏ๐จ๐ข ๐ฆ๐ฉโฆโ
Wake up! Pain is not a competition.
One person's suffering does not invalidate another's.
We do not need to have experienced the same pain to acknowledge that someone else is hurting.
And no, ordinary people are not expected to become psychologists, counselors, or mental-health professionals. We cannot solve every problem another person faces, nor should we pretend that a single conversation can fix everything.
But we can listen.
We can notice.
We can take someone's words seriously.
We can encourage them to seek appropriate professional support.
And when necessary, we can help connect them to people and services equipped to provide that support.
Sometimes, helping someone does not mean pulling them through the entire struggle ourselves.
Sometimes, it means reminding them that ๐ฉ๐๐๐ฎ ๐๐ง๐ ๐๐ก๐ก๐ค๐ฌ๐๐ ๐ฉ๐ค ๐ฅ๐ช๐ฉ ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐ง๐ค๐ฅ๐ ๐๐ค๐ฌ๐ฃ ๐๐ค๐ง ๐ ๐ฌ๐๐๐ก๐.
That they are allowed to rest from suffocating thoughts, and breathe.
That they are allowed to ask someone else to help carry what has become too heavy.
That they are allowed to seek professional help.
This is also where institutions must be held accountable.
Universities should not wait for a tragedy before asking whether their mental-health services are accessible. Counseling should not be something students vaguely know exists somewhere on campus. Information about available support should be clear, visible, and easy to access. Faculty and staff should be equipped with appropriate guidance on how to respond when a student is experiencing distress. Students should know where to go, whom to approach, and what kind of help is available to them.
Mental-health support should be part of student welfareโ not an occasional addition to the academic calendar.
This is why Su***de Prevention Month matters.
September gives us an opportunity to stop, listen, educate ourselves, challenge stigma, and confront a subject that many would rather avoid.
But ๐๐๐ฅ๐ฉ๐๐ข๐๐๐ง ๐จ๐๐ค๐ช๐ก๐ ๐๐ ๐ ๐จ๐ฉ๐๐ง๐ฉ๐๐ฃ๐ ๐ฅ๐ค๐๐ฃ๐ฉ, ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ข ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฅ๐ญ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฆ.
There is something deeply contradictory about posting messages about mental health in September only to return to dismissive attitudes in October.
There is little value in telling people that their lives matter if, throughout the rest of the year, we continue making them feel that their struggles are inconvenient.
There is little value in organizing a su***de-prevention campaign if students still hesitate to seek help because they fear being judged.
And there is little value in filling campus walls with messages of hope if the systems behind those messages are difficult to reach.
๐๐ฐ๐๐ซ๐๐ง๐๐ฌ๐ฌ ๐ฐ๐ข๐ญ๐ก๐จ๐ฎ๐ญ ๐๐๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง ๐ข๐ฌ ๐ง๐จ๐ญ ๐๐ง๐จ๐ฎ๐ ๐ก.
A campaign should not simply make us feel concerned for a month. It should make us question what happens after the campaign ends.
What happens when the posters come down?
What happens when the hashtags disappear?
What happens when September becomes October?
Do we still ask, โ๐๐ถ๐ฎ๐ถ๐ด๐ต๐ข ๐ฌ๐ข?โ
More importantly, are we still willing to listen to the answer?
As a university community, we should be.
Su***de prevention should not be seasonal because human suffering is not seasonal.
People do not struggle according to the academic calendar. Anxiety does not wait for September. Grief does not disappear when an awareness campaign ends. Loneliness does not check the date before arriving. And a person who needs help should not have to wait for a designated month before feeling that their pain deserves attention.
We should therefore stop thinking of Su***de Prevention Month as the period when we are ๐ด๐ถ๐ฑ๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ด๐ฆ๐ฅ to care.
Instead, let September remind us of the kind of community we should strive to become every day.
Let it challenge universities to strengthen their support systems.
Let it challenge students to be more compassionate toward one another.
Let it challenge faculty and staff to recognize that academic performance is never the complete picture of a person's well-being.
And let it challenge all of us to think before we dismiss someone's pain.
We may not always know the right words.
We may not always recognize the signs.
We may not be able to change someone's circumstances.
But ๐ฌ๐ ๐๐๐ฃ ๐๐๐ค๐ค๐จ๐ ๐ฃ๐ค๐ฉ ๐ฉ๐ค ๐ข๐๐ ๐ ๐ฉ๐๐๐๐ง ๐๐ช๐ง๐๐๐ฃ ๐๐๐๐ซ๐๐๐ง.
We can listen without judgment.
We can respond with compassion.
We can encourage people to seek the help they need.
And sometimes, we can simply tell someone:
๐๐ค๐ช ๐๐ค ๐ฃ๐ค๐ฉ ๐๐๐ซ๐ ๐ฉ๐ค ๐๐ค๐ก๐ ๐ค๐ฃ ๐๐ก๐ค๐ฃ๐.
๐๐๐ฉ ๐๐ค ๐ค๐ ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐ง๐ค๐ฅ๐. ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ค๐ง ๐๐๐ก๐ฅ.
The World Health Organization has emphasized that su***de prevention requires sustained, evidence-based, and multisectoral action. That means prevention cannot be left to mental-health professionals alone. Families, schools, communities, institutions, and individuals all have a role to play.
So let September be more than a month of posters, programs, and social-media captions.
Let it be a reckoning.
A reminder that behind every statistic is a life, and behind every life is a story we may never fully know.
When the awareness campaigns end, when the posters come down, and when September becomes another page in the calendar, let us ask ourselves:
Will we still care?
Because if we truly believe that every life matters, our concern should not end when the month does.
Let September remind us.
Let the rest of the year prove that we listened.
And when someone feels they can no longer carry the weight alone, let us not tell them to simply hold on tighter. Let us help them let go of the burdenโ and reach for a hand.
๐ณ๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐บ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐
๐.
_______________________
By Al-yusry Cabrido
Edited and Expanded by Diana Ordinario
DigiArt by Janus Caraig
