How 800,000 People Will Die By Suicide This Year- Lady Gaga, WHO reveals

Lady Gaga has severally revealed her struggled with mental health in the past. Now in a new ed-op in partnership with the World Health Organization director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, she writes about suicide in the GuardianUK. Together, they reveal that 800,000 people will die by suicide this year.

“Suicide is the most extreme and visible symptom of the larger mental health emergency we are so far failing to adequately address.”

“Stigma, fear and lack of understanding compound the suffering of those affected and prevent the bold action that is so desperately needed and so long overdue.”

They also point out that the word is hushed even when “one in four” persons will struggle with mental health issues.

“Despite the universality of the issue, we struggle to talk about it openly or to offer adequate care or resources. Within families and communities, we often remain silenced by a shame that tells us that those with mental illness are somehow less worthy or at fault for their own suffering.”

Together, they note that grandmothers in countries like Zimbabwe are taking chances to fight the stigma.

“In Zimbabwe, grandmothers are leading the way by offering evidence-based counseling sessions on benches, which is helping break down stigma.”

“And we can all be a part of a new movement – including people who have faced mental illness themselves – to call on governments and industry to put mental health at the top of their agendas.”

“We can no longer afford to be silenced by stigma or stymied by misguided ideas that portray these conditions as a matter of weakness or moral failing,” they write.