Lady Gaga joined the director general of the World Health Organization last week to pen an op-ed for The Guardian about suicide prevention.
“Suicide is the most extreme and visible symptom of the larger mental health emergency we are so far failing to adequately address,” the pair wrote. "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.
“One in four of us will have to deal with a mental health condition at some point in our lives, and if we’re not directly affected, someone we care for is likely to be. Our young people are particularly vulnerable, with suicide being the second leading cause of death globally among 15-29 year olds and half of all mental illness beginning by the age of 14.
“This week, on the day of the UK Summit on Mental Health and world mental health day, a panel of international experts will publish in the Lancet the most comprehensive collection of research ever produced on how to promote and protect mental health and treat mental illness. This will provide the scientific foundation for scaling up global action on mental health, similar to the movement for HIV/Aids, which the UN adopted in 2001. That movement helped save millions of lives and is an illustration of the potential for collective human action to tackle seemingly insurmountable problems.”
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