One mother-daughter duo is opening up about the importance of mental health awareness after the death of their daughter and sister.
Liv Kunik took her own life in 2019 at the age of 19.
“It’s so hard to even process the fact that your child is gone, let alone the fact that she’s gone because she ended her own life,” Honey Beuf, Liv’s mother told “Good Morning America.”
According to Liv’s mother, she was “an all around happy person on the outside,” but on the inside, she was struggling with a non-verbal learning disability along with anxiety and depression.
Social media also played a part in her struggles too as it caused her to constantly judge herself based on what she saw, her family explained.
“I didn’t know the extent to which how much social media I think played a role in her mental health,” Tess Kunik, Liv’s sister said.
Suicide is the third leading cause of death for people between the ages of 15 and 24. Five-thousand young people commit suicide every year in the U.S. according to the Suicide and Crisis Center of North Texas.
“We are not doing enough to support our young people, in terms of suicide prevention, they’re like, people only talk about it once it’s happened, once someone has died or if someone is in a crisis situation and they’re like why can’t we be talking about mental health all the time, in the hopes of preventing someone from getting to that situation,” Tess Kunik said.
Jesus Christ said in John 10:10, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.”
After Liv committed suicide, her mother and sister founded a nonprofit in her name called The Liv Project. Their goal is to “develop creative tools that encourage fearless conversations to turn the tide of youth suicide,” according to their website.
“The biggest lessons that I’ve learned through this whole process that I wish I had known when Liv was alive, is that when your child is struggling, it’s really important to just sit down with them and say, ‘I’m here for you. I love you. And no matter what you say, nothing can scare me.’ And just sit with your child and let them talk. They just want to be heard,” Honey Beuf said.