September is National Suicide Prevention Month, and here in West Virginia, the urgency couldn’t be higher. Our state is no stranger to hardship, but the current mental health crisis demands clear-eyed attention and bold action.

In 2023, West Virginia’s age-adjusted suicide rate stood at 18.6 per 100,000 people, among the highest in the nation and significantly above the national average. That is 349 West Virginians we have lost in one year alone. Though this is slightly less than 2022, West Virginians deserve more.

The numbers are more than data — they are human lives.

In the age groups where men typically bear the invisible scars of stigma, our state’s rates tower even higher. For adults aged 35-39, the suicide rate in West Virginia peaks at 30.2 per 100,000, a staggering figure that outpaced the national rate by nearly two-thirds. Even more alarming, older adults have some of the highest suicide rates, particularly among men. While older people comprise about 17% of the U.S. population, they account for roughly 22% of all suicides. The highest U.S. suicide rate in any age group is men 85 and older, at 55.7 deaths per 100,000 people.

For young West Virginians, the crisis is no less dire. Suicide ranks as the second leading cause of death for those ages 10 to 24, a chilling reminder that these tragedies are not only preventable but also tragically concentrated among those just beginning their lives.

At the National Alliance for Mental Illness in West Virginia, we refuse to remain silent. I always tell my team to meet people where they are, whether shepherding support groups for people who’ve long believed asking for help is synonymous with failure, offering youth education that challenges the dangerous notion that “it’s just a phase” and equipping families, educators and communities with the language and courage to ask, “Are you thinking about suicide?”

Through trainings, community walks and legislative advocacy, NAMI in West Virginia, along with our partners, chip away at stigma while building a statewide safety net that stretches beyond intentions into real-world support.

The truth is intentions will only go so far if there isn’t someone on the other end of the line when someone is in crisis. That’s why the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline is a lifeline in the truest sense and why its funding must not be subject to budget whims. In West Virginia, 988 is not theoretical. It is active, urgent and essential.

Our message is clear: West Virginians deserve better. Our state’s systems of peer and family support, youth outreach and crisis counseling aren’t optional. They save lives.

We must fund the basics. We must ensure that when someone dials 988 — whether at 3 a.m. in a parking lot, during the day from home, or on a school bathroom floor — they hear a steady voice that says, “I’m here. You are not alone.”

As a proud state of rugged independence and deep communities, we’re capable of showing both toughness and tenderness. If we could rebuild after floods and economic setbacks, we can rebuild our mental health infrastructure, too.

This September, I call on our leaders and neighbors. Let’s stop the empty symbols. Let’s work together to find a way to fund 988. Let’s reinvest in our communities. Let’s reframe “I need help” as a declaration of strength, not a confession of weakness.

Because behind every statistic is a West Virginian who matters, and losing one more is one too many.

Julie Gomez is the executive director of NAMI in West Virginia. The National Alliance on Mental Illness is the largest grassroots mental health organization in the United States.