Three reports – Together, these reports give a good grounding on both what’s needed and what’s becoming available in up to date suicide prevention care. Well worth your perusal to be informed about current suicide prevention goals and practices.
The Way Forward: Pathways to hope, recovery and wellness with insights from lived experience (2014 pdf)
Released by the Suicide Attempt Survivor Task Force of the National Alliance for Suicide Prevention.Suicide Care in Systems Framework (2012 pdf)
Report by the Clinical Care and Intervention Task Force of the National Alliance for Suicide Prevention.… The above reports, and much else, can be found on the
National Action Alliance for Suicide Prevention website.Continuity of care for suicide prevention and research (pdf)
A comprehensive report offering recommendations for the ongoing care of patients at risk for suicide who have been treated in emergency departments and hospitals. Knesper, D.J., American Association of Suicidology, 2010.… Links to the above paper, and much else, can be found on the
SPRC – Suicide Prevention Resource Center website.
If you or someone you know may be at risk for suicide or is a survivor of a suicide attempt, here are some specific resources for you:
National Suicide Prevention Lifeline 24/7/365 phone: 1-800-273-TALK (8255)
The Lifeline is a network of 165 centers in 49 states. “No matter what problems you are dealing with, we want to help you find a reason to keep living. By calling you’ll be connected to a skilled, trained counselor at a crisis center in your area, anytime 24/7″
Now Matters Now
“Have you had suicidal thoughts? … You are in excellent company – we’ve been there” This website offers strategies, based on Dialectical Behavior Therapy, “..to survive and build more manageable and meaningful lives.” Also individual’s stories and links to many Instant Messaging / Text Chart and traditional Phone Help Lines.livethroughthis.org is a wonderful and compelling collection of portraits each linked to a suicide attempt survivor story, as told by those survivors. LiveThroughThis shows through these remarkable stories that everyone is susceptible to depression and suicidal thoughts. It does this simply by showing portraits and stories of attempt survivors — profoundly sharing that they are people no different than you or I.
attemptsurvivors.com was a two-year project of the American Association of Suicidology titled: “What Happens Now, life after suicidal thinking.” Scroll down past the home page’s “Thank You” statement to find featured attempt survivors who have spoken up from around the world, shared their stories on this site and “…created a community around this long-neglected issue.”
Know the Signs-Suicide is Preventable
“…is a statewide [California] suicide prevention social marketing campaign built on three key messages: Know the signs. Find the words. Reach out.American Foundation Suicide Prevention (AFSP)
Sponsors Out of Darkness walks to raise awareness about depression and suicide, and provide comfort and assistance to those who have lost someone to suicide.Reasons to Go On Living
Collects stories written by people who have attempted or seriously contemplated suicide but now want to go on living.Talking About Suicide – Because It’s Not Taboo
Interviews with people who have attempted or seriously considered suicideBefrienders Worldwide
…a network of 169 independent emotional support centers in 29 countries. These centers provide an open space for those in distress to talk and be heard. This service is provided via telephone helplines, SMS messaging, face to face, outreach, partnerships and the internetContact USA
A network of crisis intervention centers; a new service offers online emotional support at http://www.CrisisChat.orgNational Empowerment Center
“A consumer/survivor/expatient-run organization convinced that recovery and empowerment are not the privilege of a few exceptional leaders, but rather are possible for each person with lived experience.”National Mental Health Consumer Self-Help Clearinghouse
“…”The nation’s first peer-run national technical assistance center … played a major role in … the mental health consumer/survivor/ex-patient (c/s/x) movement. The movement strives for dignity, respect, and opportunity for those diagnosed with mental health conditions, often called peers.”OK2TALK
A NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Illness) website who’s goal “…is to create a community for teens and young adults struggling with mental health problems and encourage them to talk about what they’re experiencing by sharing their personal stories of recovery, tragedy, struggle or hope.”
Speaking out and Stigma: Not just a matter of using the wrong word or action, Stigma surrounding suicide is about disrespect, labeling persons as less worthy than others, and results in discrimination.
The Center for Dignity, Recovery, and Empowerment
Works “to advance effective mental health supports grounded in hope and human dignity through … culturally relevant best practices for recovery and the reduction of prejudice…”Program: Transforming Crisis and Suicide Prevention through Lived Experience Innovations
National Consortium of Stigma and Empowerment
“…a research group meant to promote recovery by understanding stigma and promoting empowerment.“What Happens Now” – AttemptSurvivors.com
A blog with Personal stories about life after suicidal thinking. A project for the American Association of Suicidology; many individual’s stories to be read.
Suicide prevention guidelines for those in health care, media, and the general public
Suicide Prevention Framework for Successful Messaging
Action Alliance for Suicide Prevention: National Strategy for Suicide Prevention (NSSP)
Zero Suicide
“…to create a next generation online Zero Suicide in Healthcare training for the behavioral healthcare workforce.”TeamUp Tools for Entertainment and Media
“A program of the Entertainment Industries Council … [including] Social Media Guidelines for Mental Health Promotion and Suicide Prevention”SPRC (Suicide Prevention Resource Center) Best Practices Registry
Means Matter – Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health
“… ‘Means reduction’ (reducing a suicidal person’s access to highly lethal means) is an important part of a comprehensive approach to suicide prevention.”University of Menphis Crisis Intervention Teams (CIT) or
NAMI – National Alliance on Mental Health Resource Page on CIT Teams
“…an innovative police based first responder program that has become nationally known as the “Memphis Model” of pre-arrest jail diversion for those in a mental illness crisis.”
Books on Suicide. There are many, here are a few that I’ve found to be most helpful:
Night Falls Fast: Understanding Suicide Kay Redfield Jamison, Alfred Knopf, New York (1999)
Why People Die by Suicide Thomas Joiner, Harvard University Press (2005)
Myths About Suicide Thomas Joiner, Harvard University Press (2010)
…my reviewThe Suicidal Mind Edwin Shneidman, Oxford University Press (1996)
Key Information / Resource Websites
SAMHSA (Substance Abuse Mental Health Services Administration)
On Suicide Prevention
National Center for Trauma Informed CareSuicide Prevention Resource Center (SPRC)
Mental Illness: From Shame - To Healing 