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Saving Lives: New York State’s Comprehensive Approach to Suicide Prevention
It is critical that across our state, we ensure that our local communities have the resources they need to identify and help individuals who are most at risk for suicide. Suicide is the second leading cause of death among individuals between the ages of 25 and 34 and the third leading cause of...
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Suicide is NOT a Symptom
Too many have lost a loved one to suicide. Every 11 minutes, someone dies by suicide in the US, often without warning. Suicidality has historically been regarded as a symptom of major depression and mental illness in general. During my training, when someone was at risk of suicide, we were...
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Saving Lives At Work: How Employers Can Lead in Suicide Postvention As Prevention
It’s OK to talk about suicide. The more we do so, the more we break down barriers that stop people from feeling safe enough to seek help. Vital strides have been made to open the dialogue on suicide. For example, the World Health Organization (WHO) Suicide Prevention Day theme for 2024-2026 is...
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Prolonged Grief and Suicide Survivors: Understanding Risks and Treatment
NOTE: The terms complicated grief, traumatic grief, and prolonged grief are essentially synonymous. They are used interchangeably here based on the sources being cited and terminology used in those sources, eventually settling on prolonged grief as it appears in the DSM-5-TR and the...
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The Ripple Effect: Impact of Suicide on Family and Friends
The loss of a person to suicide touches friends, family, and other loved ones who must grapple with a host of emotions in the wake of tragic loss. The pain of suicide bereavement can ripple through personal relationships and affect the emotional health of the community of the individual who was...
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When Outpatient Psychiatric Care Is Not Enough
Key Points: The accepted goal of treatment is recovery—pursuit of a self-directed life, not just crisis stabilization. Those having difficulty pursuing recovery in outpatient treatment should consider residential treatment. Residential treatment ideally occurs in a community over...
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How My Suicide Attempts Made Me a Better Crisis Peer Specialist
Trigger Alert: If you or someone you know is disturbed by the descriptions of suicide (attempts) in this article, please consult a behavioral health provider or contact the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. Past is Prologue for Premature Life and Death Car crash, asphyxiation, throat slash,...
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Addressing Suicide in Marginalized Communities: Unique Challenges and Culturally Responsive Approaches
Suicide continues to remain a global crisis, claiming over 700,000 lives annually (WHO, 2021). In the United States alone, more than 49,000 people died by suicide in 2022, marking it one of the leading causes of death in the nation (CDC, 2023). Behind these sobering statistics lies an...
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Suicide Prevention and Response: Fostering Trust and Safety in Vulnerable Communities
Suicide carries grief and mourning and encompasses assumptions, histories, and fantasies. It holds the dialectic of abbreviated narratives and hope-filled storylines for those who survive. 2022 U.S. data from the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP) indicates that 1.6 million adults...
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Schools and Suicide Prevention: A 3-Tiered Approach
Suicide is a complex issue with devastating consequences that disproportionately affect young people. Schools, as central hubs of a child’s life, play a crucial role in suicide prevention by addressing behavioral and emotional difficulties that threaten to interfere with a child’s ability to...
