Jason Ficorilli

Normalizing Suicide Prevention Awareness One Appeal at a Time: A Rhetorical Comparison of

Two Suicide Prevention Encouragement Artifacts

Suicide is a prominent and difficult issue in the United States. According to a 2020 report

from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) National Center for Health

Statistics, suicide ranked as the 10th leading cause of U.S. deaths for all ages in 2018, as well as

the second leading cause for ages 10-34 (Hedegaard et al. 1). While these statistics are beneficial

in recognizing suicide’s broad presence in communities across the United States, they do not

demonstrate the unique circumstances many U.S. communities face leading to suicidal ideation.

This is especially apparent for those within the U.S. Military, where high-pressure environments

and a systemic reliance on reputation perpetuate false perceptions towards seeking mental health

resources. In the Department of Defense’s “2002 Survey of Health-Related Behaviors Among

Military Personnel,” it was reported that 48.8% of the surveyed soldiers across all branches of

the military indicated at least “probably would” when asked if seeking mental health services

would have a detrimental impact on their career (Bray et al. 8-20). The existence of this stigma,

as well as the general stigma against emotional vulnerability for men, require effective mental

health resource advocacy materials to include elements intentionally tailored towards the unique

circumstances of its target communities. The political cartoonist Nate Beeler’s June 10, 2018,

“Fighting Depression” cartoon and the June 05, 2005, “Suicide Prevention Poster” created by

Bob Goode of the U.S. Air Force (USAF) News Agency are two suicide prevention artifacts that

effectively utilize similar rhetorical appeals to encourage their respective audiences’ engagement

with suicide prevention resources. This is demonstrated through the poster and cartoon’s use of

coloring to solidify important ideas, commonplaces, and pathos and logos appeals.
 Goode’s poster and Beeler’s cartoon use similar color choices to identify their message’s

most important elements. This is initially recognizable through both images’ use of the color red.

In the cartoon’s top-left hand corner, Beeler highlights the word “lies” in the phrase “don’t

believe its lies” with a bright red color. The “its” in the phrase refers to the cartoon’s

anthropomorphic depiction of “depression.” The human-like creature is depicted with fully red

eyes and a red snake-like tongue as it whispers into the ear of a centralized man. Beeler’s

decision to use the same red color for both the word and the “depression” figure’s eyes and

tongue establishes a negative association with the possibility of influence from depression. When

the viewer sees the word “lies,” they can immediately associate its connection with the devilish-

figure and its inhuman physical features. This creates a negative connotation where the viewer

can identify that the “lies” from “depression” are irrational, aligning with the similar coloring in

the irrational “depression” figure.

Similarly, the use of red coloring in Goode’s poster results in a comparable effect. On the

left-side of the poster, the words “Suicide Warning Signs” are written in a bright red color above

a list of possible actions indicating possible suicidal tendencies. The phrase’s red wording

indicates the importance of the phrase in comparison to the rest of the poster’s elements. When a

viewer looks at the image, their attention is immediately drawn to the red lettering of the phrase.

The color stands out amongst the poster’s other wording, which is entirely in white and indicates

the mental health resources available to USAF servicemembers. This contrast creates a similar

effect to the red wording in Beeler’s cartoon, where the viewer can recognize the importance of

the wording among all the other elements of the poster. While both the cartoon and poster utilize

coloring in a similar way, the images also use commonplaces to reach their specific audiences.
 Both Beeler’s cartoon and Goode’s poster rely on commonly understood notions of

seeking help within their main messaging, In Beeler’s cartoon, the phrase “talk to somebody else

instead” is listed above the then-Suicide & Crisis Lifeline number “1-800-273-8255.” The

phrase’s mention of “talking to somebody else” establishes a common understanding where the

viewer can recognize the appropriate resources to reach out to when requiring mental health

assistance. While the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline number is provided below the phrase, the

number’s source is not clearly identified. This placement relies on the viewer to recognize the

number and the appropriate actions needed to reach the number’s resource. Although the listed

number provides a source for mental health assistance, the phrase still suggests the idea that the

viewer should speak to “somebody” other than their depressive thoughts. This invocation of

action relies on the viewer’s awareness of the appropriate resources available for suicide

prevention, as the “somebody else” could be misinterpreted as any kind of person, even those

who are not qualified mental healthcare professionals.

Goode’s poster also relies on commonplaces to reach its intended audience of USAF

servicemembers. At the top of the poster, two phrases are listed in large white letters: “leave no

one behind” and “airmen looking out for airmen.” Both phrases invoke commonly understood

military notions of assisting other soldiers. This is particularly apparent for the notion “leave no

one behind.” While the phrase is commonly recognized in the context of an active-combat

situation, its use in the image invokes the same action applied beyond the battlefield. Although

the “airmen looking out for airmen” phrase relies on a similar application to non-combat

assistance, the phrase relies on a common context of “wingman” culture established in the U.S.

Air Force’s suicide prevention efforts near the time of the poster’s creation. In the 2009 “Be an

ACE: Save a Wingman’s Life” article in which Goode’s poster was used as a supplemental
image, Major Melissa Gould described the role of being a “wingman” in the USAF’s A.C.E

(Ask. Care. Escort) suicide prevention efforts by referencing a quote from Lt. Col. Michael

Kindt, the director of the USAF’s Suicide Prevention Program, who stated: “We want our

Airmen to be able to ask questions of their friends and co-workers when they see signs of

distress, to care for their wingmen by listening attentively and showing care and concern, and

finally, to escort those at risk for suicide to a Mental Health provider, chaplain or other helping

agency” (Gould). The poster’s reliance on the idea of being a “good wingman” and the USAF

audience’s awareness of its use in suicide prevention rhetoric at the time mirrors Beeler’s cartoon

reliance on commonly understood actions and then-available mental health resources. While both

the cartoon and poster utilize color and commonplaces to reach their target audiences, their

respective pathos and logos appeals are most critical to their overall messaging.

Both Beeler’s poster and Goode’s cartoon utilize appeals to pathos and logos to reach

their target audiences. The images’ pathos appeals are present through their centralized figure’s

facial expressions and posture. In Beeler’s cartoon, a person (presumably a man due to the

person’s hairstyle and general appearance) is depicted in the center of the image facing the

opposite direction of the viewer. The man is looking downward and has a slightly slouched

posture as the smiling “depression” figure whispers to him. The man’s slouched posture and its

contrast with the joyful emotion of the “depression” figure seem to represent the loneliness that

can result from the effective influence of depression. This imagery invokes emotions of isolation,

as the viewer can identify with the man’s seeming hopelessness. Similarly, Goode’s poster uses

the contrasting emotions of a differing centralized figure to invoke emotions of isolation. In the

poster’s foreground, there is a soldier with a stoic facial expression that differs from the

expressions of laughter and joy from the three soldiers behind him. This contrast represents the
central solder’s isolation from the others, constituting an appeal to the emotion of isolation

involved in the poster’s suicide warning sign of “withdraws from friends.”

The poster and cartoon also include appeals to logos through their respectively depicted

central figures. The main person in Beeler’s cartoon, while presumably a man, is depicted as

white. This intentional decision to depict a white man as susceptible to the influence of

depression demonstrates the cartoon’s attempted appeal to the racial group committing the most

suicides in the United States during the time of the cartoon’s publication. According to “Changes

in Suicide Rates – United States, 2018-2019,” a February 26, 2021, Morbidity and Mortality

Weekly Report from the CDC, the 29,997 suicides of white men in the U.S. constituted for

79.44% of the total male U.S. suicides for 2018 (Stone 265). Similarly, while there is the

inclusion of soldiers from other races in the background, Goode’s poster includes a centralized

and black-and-white colored soldier that is white. This decision possibly constitutes an appeal to

the racial group that committed the most suicides in the USAF around the time of the poster’s

creation. According to the Department of Defense’s 2009 Suicide Event Report, male suicides

(44) constituted for 96% of the USAF’s total suicides (46) in 2009, and white soldiers (35)

accounted for 76% of the USAF’s total suicides across all racial backgrounds (Bush et al. 14).

While the figures for suicide in 2018 and USAF suicides in 2009 do not represent the rates of

suicides among the respective racial and gender groups (which show comparable rates of suicide

among the groups opposed to the crude totals that often lean towards the greater population

numbers), the figures demonstrate that white men constituted most of the suicides in both the

image’s targeted audiences. Thus, the images’ use of a white male as the centralized figure

representing the effects of isolation and depression are representative appeals to the groups

constituting the most suicides during the time of both images’ creations.
 Through their uses of coloring to solidify important ideas, commonplaces, and pathos and

logos appeals; the “Fighting Depression” cartoon from political cartoonist Nate Beeler and the

“Suicide Prevention Poster” created by Bob Goode of the U.S. Air Force News Agency

effectively utilize similar rhetorical appeals to encourage their respective audiences to engage

with suicide prevention resources. Beeler’s red “lies” and the eyes and tongue of the depicted

“depression figure and Goode’s red “suicide warning signs” use a poignant color to identify the

most important aspects of their respective messages. The cartoon’s “talk to somebody else” and

“1-800-273-8255” phrases and the poster’s “leave no one behind” and “airmen looking out for

airmen” phrases invoke commonly understood notions of assisting others in their targeted

audiences. Lastly, both the cartoon and poster’s use of the posture of a centralized white male

figure as the representation of isolation demonstrates appeals to both pathos and logos. Although

suicide rates have changed since both the artifacts’ creations, the stigmatizations against seeking

mental health resources are still present in the artifacts’ targeted communities. Through a more

delicate understanding of the unique circumstances and commonplaces present in the targeted

audiences, suicide advocacy materials can more effectively reach those who feel hopeless and

require assistance – breaking through stigma in the process.

 Works Cited

Bray, Robert M, et al. “2002 Department of Defense Survey of Health Related Behaviors Among

Military Personnel,” RTI International, https://apps.dtic.mil/sti/pdfs/ADA431566.pdf

Bush, Nigel E, et al, “2009 Department of Defense Suicide Event Report,” National Center for

Telehealth & Technology, Tacoma, WA, 2010,

https://www.dspo.mil/Portals/113/Documents/2009-DoDSER-Annual-Report.pdf

Gould, Melissa. “Be an ACE: Save a Wingman's Life.” Travis Air Force Base, 22 September

2009, https://www.travis.af.mil/News/Commentaries/Display/Article/152500/be-an-ace-

save-a-wingmans-life/.

Hedegaard, Holly, et al. “Increase in Suicide Mortality in the United States, 1999–2018.” NCHS

Data Brief, no 362, National Center for Health Statistics, April 2020, Hyattsville, MD,

https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/products/databriefs/db362.htm#:~:text=Data%20from%20the

%20National%20Vital,10.5%20per%20100%2C000%20to%2014.2.

Stone, Deborah M, et al. “Changes in Suicide Rates — United States, 2018–2019.” Morbidity

and Mortality Weekly Report. vol. 70, no. 8, February 26, 2021; pp. 261–268. doi:

http://dx.doi.org/10.15585/mmwr.mm7008a1.