A few weeks before Utah's youth suicide task force was announced in 2018, then Lt. Gov. Spencer Cox traveled to Tremonton for what he thought would be a “simple” speaking assignment at a community suicide prevention meeting. He led with his prepared talking points — but then, he felt compelled to divulge his deeply personal experience with suicide. Something that he hadn’t really talked about for nearly three decades.
Growing up in a conservative, agrarian town, Cox reflected on being a kid with divorced parents and thick glasses, especially in middle school. “The first week, these strapping young boys grabbed me in the hall and stuffed me in a garbage can,” he said. At the time, Cox said, he began thinking “what it would be like if I wasn’t here anymore, and how much better off everyone would be if I wasn’t here.” He then pleaded with the crowd to inspire hope in each other.
In the midst of looking at the teen mental health crisis, the connection between many of things that are precursors to suicide — depression, bullying and unhealthy comparisons — are linked to social media use. This gave Cox, and others, a reason to focus on what is now seen as one of the primary reasons for a rise in the number of teens struggling with anxiety and depression — social media.