“The Voice” Season 22 runner-up Bodie says his breakup with depression after connecting with God inspired him to write the song “Happy Now,” seeking to raise awareness of the rising rates of suicide and warning about songs that romanticize suicide. “I broke up with depression, and I wrote a song about it,” Bodie Kuljian said in a Dec. 7 video posted to social media discussing the 2021 song.

“I got tired of seeing songs on the radio popup that kind of romanticize the idea of depression, romanticize the idea of let’s be sad together. I guess I kind of paid more attention after that or noticed the rising rate of suicide in young adults. It just started to anger me in a way that I can’t really explain.”

Bodie, a Southern California native who runs a media company with his wife and serves as “music coach” for a local Christian university’s worship collective, advises those struggling with suicidal thoughts or depression to admit their struggles openly.

“But I think it’s even more significant, more powerful, and more influential in your life is when you realize, ‘Hey, those things aren’t the end of my story, those things don’t define who I am, and those things don’t decide where I am called to go in my life.’”

The artist spoke of his struggles, saying his “breakup” with depression felt like a “regular breakup.”

“I understand it’s not just an easy switch to flip off or flip on,” he said. “Just like a regular breakup, it’s painful and takes time to heal. Maybe your journey doesn’t look exactly like mine, but for me, it wasn’t until I connected with God that and realized where true joy and true freedom came from.”

Bodie said he wrote “Happy Now” after “personally deciding” to “take a stand and break up with those things in my life and break up with the world influencing me in a negative way and say, ‘You know what, I am called to so much more than my circumstances. I am called to so much more than how I might feel in this moment of pain.’”

Suicide is the second-leading cause of death among people aged 15 to 24 in the U.S., according to the National Alliance of Mental Illness. Additionally, almost 20 percent of high school students report severe thoughts of suicide and 9% have attempted suicide. The suicide rate among children aged 10 to 14 has nearly tripled from 2007 to 2017, according to a U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report.

Bodie’s performances on NBC’s “The Voice” this season struck a chord with fans. In the season finale, he sang a rendition of Brandon Lake’s “Gratitude” that moved judges to tears. He dedicated his performance to his three kids. Although he came in second place to Bryce Leatherwood, his performance went viral online, and he even earned kudos from Leatherwood. A higher percentage of fans polled by Gold Derby seem to believe that Bodie should have won. Bodie offered congratulations to Leatherwood in a video posted on social media.