Wake Up: End the Stigma Suicide Prevention

One in every ten college students has a suicide plan, according to Emory University. Two local first-time filmmakers are hoping to change that with a new documentary.

For Alex Lindley and Danny Kerth, graduating college was in their long term plan, but not making a film about a controversial topic. The St. Louis natives lost two friends to suicide in their four years at The University of Missouri. They are ready to end the stigma and start the talk about suicide to help save lives across college campuses.

Alex and Danny believe that there is an issue on college campuses with the frequency of suicides. The loss of two close friends, Carolyn Dolen in 2012 and Ryan Candiance in 2014, inspired Alex, Danny, and friends to start the conversation and a movement to make sure any college student with thoughts of suicide as an only option know they are not alone.

“With the primary objective of getting myself and my friends through the tragedy, in addition to that I wanted to see if we could come up with a way to help eradicate that stigma,” said Alex.

With over fifteen thousand views on their short film “Wake Up: End the Stigma,” Alex and Danny are hoping to raise enough funding to create a feature- length film college campuses can use to help with awareness. According to Emory University, there are over 1,000 suicides on college campuses per year, a crisis that Alex and Danny know they can help as relatable individuals.

“”From the people who are living to tell the aftermath and the fall out, it’s all kids who have gone through this before and so hopefully that’s going to be an outlet for them if they are going through something to seek help,” said Danny.

For college students it’s easy to feel the pressure of class work, finding internships, and making friends, all things that can trigger anxiety or depression but they must always know they are not alone. Its time to wake up, end the stigma, and talk about suicide.