Rolling into the new year, the rude awakening of the most loving holiday is right around the corner. Valentine’s Day is stereotyped as the holiday to share love and affection with significant others and the people around you. Although Valentine’s Day may be the most affectionate holiday, it has the highest suicide rates out of any holiday as well. 

Some call it the “Valentine’s Blues,” seeing the romance and love in the air. This can trigger people into depressive moods, reminding them about a hard breakup or a bad time in their life when they wish they had love and support.

Valentine’s Day may be the most suicidal day of the year, and it also starts the cycle of depression and suicidal thoughts throughout the upcoming spring season. According to cityonthehillpress.com, January starts the year with confidence and the reassurance of a good outlook based on New Year’s resolutions and the mentality of a fresh start. Then in February, there are so many expectations on where you are supposed to be in life, such as, “Have you been following your New Year’s resolution?”, “Who are you spending Valentine’s with?”, “Why can I not be in a relationship?”. All of these phrases and ideas run through an individual’s mind and tend to worsen when this loving holiday appears.

Springtime is also approaching, reminding us that it’s time for new beginnings and the start of life when trees are blooming and flowers are blossoming. This creates a problem and is seen nationally as the most suicidal season when individuals can’t blossom themselves and realize everything around them is growing when they are not. 

Science teacher Connie Bang will be spending her Valentine’s Day at parent-teacher conferences. Bang wasn’t aware of this special holiday being the most suicidal day, However, she believes that Valentine’s Day is a commercialized holiday that signals nothing.

“If you are a good husband, wife, boyfriend, girlfriend, or partner, you should be appreciating and showing care to that person every day, and not just on one day,” Bang said. “I think people are putting too much emphasis on Valentine’s Day, versus just life every single day…I feel like you should be showing your care every day and I think if it’s that high [a rate] of suicide, we are not showing enough appreciation or love throughout the year for everyone.”

Junior Colton Fischer has similar views with Bang, adding that it could be tougher for individuals to be surrounded by love and compassion when they have no one to share that emotion with. 

“Having a day that’s designated for love and a partner and feeling left out is one of the most hurtful things ever…not being involved and constantly seeing other people post or say stuff about it takes a toll on people who aren’t involved in it,” Fischer said.

History teacher John Bacus has been married for years and describes this holiday as a “hallmark holiday”. Bacus makes it clear that Valentine’s Day is about chocolates, cards, and flowers. However, he adds that it is also a good business situation to make money off of. He also mentions that this loving holiday could take a turn when having no family to celebrate with or no significant other to be around on this day. 

“It’s one of the down effects, I thought it started with Christmas, that people at this time, they are alone on Christmas and feel very depressed,” Bacus said. “Valentine’s Day is for lovers, so its downturn, I mean, certainly shouldn’t be [suicide], but it is one of the side effects.”

If you or a friend are feeling thoughts of suicide or depression, Elkhorn High has a great staff of counselors to talk to, or you could call the suicide prevention hotline to talk to someone anonymously at 800-273-TALK (8255).

Print this entry