September 10th of each year is World Suicide Prevention Day and that concurrent week is Suicide Prevention Week in the US. WellLife Network (WLN) routinely provides and offers community awareness and trainings for NYC and Long Island Communities.
We would like to ask all agencies in NYC to consider a suicide awareness campaign with regard to this most preventable cause of death. Agencies may participate in many different ways including scheduling trainings for their respective communities. As such, we need to remind and offer assistance as needed to all the community-based organizations to participate and think about ways to reach the communities they serve.
Max Banilivy, PhD
Suicide rates continue to rise. Our society continues to accumulate a significant cohort who are survivors with lived experience with suicide. This number continues to grow every year. The number of individuals in our respective communities who think about suicide is staggering and in the millions every day. At WellLife Network, we are training every employee to understand the fundamentals of Suicide Prevention. We believe this is possible regardless of what agency individuals are affiliated. The trainings and wealth of information is available to everyone who cares.
That is why at WellLife Network we believe suicide prevention is everyone’s business. The basic skills and knowledge already exists as to how to reach many millions of people who think about ending their life. Those individuals thinking about suicide are among us as friends, family, relatives and coworkers. What they are looking for more than anything is someone to talk to. Since we rarely know who has suicidal thoughts and whose life may be at risk and most do not let others know about their thoughts of suicide, we need to ask, which is a difficult conversation for many.
We know that many taboos, myths, and stigmas still exist about the topic of suicide, so starting this conversation at any time is progress.
Therefore, we hope you choose to consider the above at your institution and organization. We may never know when our willingness to openly discuss the topic may save a life.
WLN is pleased to be a consultant to New York Communities for many years. We hope you contact us to discuss your interest in sponsoring a community awareness activity. We can help with ideas, resources, and material that may be helpful.
If you and/or someone you know has thoughts of suicide , please contact this 24/7 crisis hotline: 1-800-273-TALK.
For further information and discussion about the many trainings please contact Max Banilivy, PhD, Director of Clinical Training, Education and Field Placement at WellLife Network, at Max.banilivy@welllifenetwork.org.
