Jasmine Hentz’ aunt never talked about it.

Yet she had been sick for a long time and nobody knew – until Hentz’ family found her aunt’s journals after she died.

After pouring through her writings, Hentz discovered that her aunt had been depressed and needed help.

“She slowly committed suicide with alcohol,” Hentz said, adding that her aunt died of liver failure. “Life was just very hard for her and my family didn’t know.”

The Bellevue resident, who struggles with depression herself, hopes her participation in the national “Out of the Darkness” overnight walk this weekend will help others ask for help without shame when they need it.

The 20-mile walk, which will take place for the first time this year in Seattle, will run from sunset to sunrise starting by the Space Needle June 21-22. Event proceeds will help the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention raise funds and awareness for suicide prevention projects, research and support programs for survivors of suicide loss. Funds also will be used to help create a foundation chapter in Seattle.

Robert Gebbia, Foundation executive director, hopes the event will generate the awareness needed to end the stigma that continues to be a barrier to seeking help.

The issue has been kept in the dark, Gebbia said. Suicide is the third leading cause of death among teens and young adults, yet it doesn’t receive the same level of attention as other leading causes, he added. Nationally, nearly one million people attempt suicide and more than 31,000 die by suicide each year, according to the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention.

“The biggest misconception about suicide is somehow this is a weakness on the part of the person who dies,” he said. “That is a terrible misunderstanding. When people die of suicide, it’s the result of an illness, just like when someone dies as the result of heart or kidney failure.”

According to the foundation, 90 percent of people who commit suicide have an underlying illness, including an anxiety or eating disorder and depression – the leading cause of suicide. In the United States, more than 24 million people suffer from depression or another mood disorder each year, Gebbia said.

When Hentz read her aunt’s journals, she said it was difficult to read because a lot of what her aunt expressed Hentz was feeling.

In high school, sometimes she would feel “really crappy” about herself for no reason. Later, she had to deal with her parents’ divorce and her college workload while still struggling with depression.

By the age of 20, she could no longer handle her mental illness.

“I came close to committing suicide,” recalled Hentz, now 27. “I just felt overwhelmed.”

Her boyfriend, Robby Tubbs, found her with a pill bottle in her hand and stayed with her until he could “pull me out of it.”

Though on some days she still feels low for no reason, Hentz said she now understands that about herself and she has learned how to deal with it. She also has supportive people in her life that are able to help her through a bad day, including Tubbs and her best friend who will walk beside her this weekend.

“I’ve gotten myself into a better place in my life and have learned to forgive myself when I feel like I’m not meeting expectations,” she said. “I’ve learned to set my own expectations and be happy as I am.”

On a recent sunny afternoon, Hentz joined with other area walkers at Lincoln Park in Seattle to train for the walk.

It’s going to be “insane,” she said of the 20 miles, but she has done a couple breast cancer relays in the past and feels prepared.

She has found it more difficult to raise the minimum $1,000 in pledges for the overnight walk than it was to raise money for breast cancer.

It’s because people’s reaction to mental illness is denial, she says.

“With things like cancer or a car accident, you can’t ignore wounds and surgical scars or hair loss from chemotherapy and subsequently people will rally in support of the victim,” Hentz said.

In the case of mental illness, family members and friends are sometimes in denial about it because there’s not always a palpable sign that something is wrong, she added.

Others just don’t want to talk about it.

“My best friend’s mother tried to commit suicide. She and I are very close and I still didn’t know that about her until we started this,” Hentz said of the overnight walk. “Nobody wants to really talk about it, but that’s what needs to be done.”

Carrie Wood can be reached at cwood@reporternewspapers.com or 425-453-4290.