One person dies by suicide in Illinois every six hours.

Alarming numbers recently were released and Heritage Behavioral Health Center's Jessica Smiley says the numbers are alarming for young people. 

Since the COVID shutdowns, stress and depression are on the rise in Illinois. Smiley indicates mental health issues like these are not always associated with suicide but she stresses it is important we check on each other.

According to Smiley, circling around the issue or ignoring it altogether is not helpful. She encourages learning about depression and mental health and suicide and again, checking in on each other.

Smiley will return to the WHOW Morning Show this Friday at 9:30 am. She encourages community businesses, organizations, and anyone interested to reach out to them and participate in Heritage's first-aid training for mental health. There are many ways to take advantage of that  - to get more information visit heritagenet.org.