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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...
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Advancing Suicide Prevention: The Role of Technology and AI in Mental Health Care
Suicide rates in the U.S. have reached alarming levels, with 13.2 million adults experiencing serious suicidal thoughts annually, 3.8 million making a plan, and 1.6 million attempting suicide. These statistics reflect a public health emergency that demands urgent attention. Yet, access to quality...
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Leadership’s Responsibility for Postvention Following a Death by Suicide
While society has grown more open to discussions centering around suicide - both its prevention and its impact on survivors - the subject remains fraught among mental health clinicians who have treated people who have died in this manner. The death of a client by suicide can elicit in providers...
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NYSPA Report: New Federal Policy in Support of Suicide Prevention
Earlier this year, the Biden Administration launched a new national strategy on Suicide Prevention. According to the federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA): In the United States, someone dies by suicide every 11 minutes; the rates of suicidal behaviors have...
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Leveraging Digital Tools: Innovative Technology for Suicide Prevention and Support in Healthcare
Suicide remains one of the leading causes of death worldwide, with over 700,000 people taking their own lives each year (World Health Organization, 2021). Beyond the immense emotional toll it inflicts on families and friends, suicide places a heavy burden on healthcare systems. Over recent years,...
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A Unique and Insidious Grief: Losing a Loved One to Suicide
Deaths by suicide are unquestionably tragic by any measure, but considerably more so when considered in the context of their impact on surviving family members. Most public health initiatives have logically targeted individuals at risk of suicide and promoted prevention efforts accordingly; fewer...
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The Heavy Burden of Suicide Survivor’s Guilt: Understanding, Coping and Moving Forward
Family, friends, and even mere acquaintances are left with a wide range of feelings after someone in their life commits suicide. Feelings of responsibility, regret, and helplessness manifest in a complex experience called Survivor’s Guilt. This painful guilt grows from a sense of intense remorse...
