September Is Suicide Prevention Awareness Month
September is Suicide Prevention Awareness Month — a time to raise awareness of this stigmatized, and often taboo, topic. This month is used to shift public perception, spread hope and share vital information to people affected by suicide.
The National Alliance on Mental Illness website states their goal is one of “ensuring that individuals, friendsand families have access to the resources they need to discuss suicide prevention and to seek help.
Throughout the month of September, NAMI will highlight the “Together for Mental Health,” campaign which encourages people to bring their voices together to advocate for better mental health care, including an effective crisis response system. After years of advocacy and preparation, 988 is now available nationwide as the new number to contact for mental health, substance use and suicide crises—a simple, easy-to-remember way for people to get help. This new number will allow people to quickly connect with support during a crisis, 24/7, no matter where they live.”
Crisis Resources
• If you or someone you know is experiencing a mental health crisis, call or text 988 immediately.
• Know the Warning Signs and Risk Factors of Suicide
• Read our guide "Navigating a Mental Health Crisis"
• What You Need to Know About Youth Suicide
• If you need more information, referrals or support? Contact the NAMI Helpline.
How To Engage Together For Mental Health:
During Suicide Prevention Awareness Month, please refer to these images and graphics you can use on your website and social media accounts. Use #Suicide Prevention or #Together4MH
While suicide prevention is important to address year-round, Suicide Prevention Awareness Month provides a dedicated time to come together with collective passion and strength to address difficult topic. The truth is, we can all benefit from honest conversations about mental health conditions and suicide, because just one conversation can change a life.
Trying to tell the difference between what expected behaviors are and what might be the signs of a mental illness isn't always easy. There's no easy test that can let someone know if there is mental illness or if actions and thoughts might be typical behaviors of a person or the result of a physical illness.
Each illness has its own symptoms, but common signs of mental illness in adults and adolescents can include the following:
• Excessive worrying or fear
• Feeling excessively sad or low
• Confused thinking or problems concentrating and learning
• Extreme mood changes, including uncontrollable “highs” or feelings of euphoria
• Prolonged or strong feelings of irritability or anger
• Avoiding friends and social activities
• Difficulties understanding or relating to other people
• Changes in sleeping habits or feeling tired and low energy
• Changes in eating habits such as increased hunger or lack of appetite
• Changes in sex drive
• Difficulty perceiving reality (delusions or hallucinations, in which a person experiences and senses things that don't exist in objective reality)
• Inability to perceive changes in one’s own feelings, behavior or personality (”lack of insight” or anosognosia)
• Overuse of substances like alcohol or drugs
• Multiple physical ailments without obvious causes (such as headaches, stomach aches, vague and ongoing “aches and pains”)
• Thinking about suicide
• Inability to carry out daily activities or handle daily problems and stress
• An intense fear of weight gain or concern with appearance
While my book A Portrait of Grief does not address suicide prevention, it has a lot to say about surviving a suicide. My hope is that with thoughtful intervention you will never have a suicide touch your life. Our Nation’s statistics are frightening. Please look for the signs in your friends and families and get help if needed.
For those of you wondering how to provide help and hope to someone considering suicide, I would like to recommend a book that I just read. It is So Much to Live For by Geregory L. Jantz, PhD with Keith Wall. It is an uplifting book about what can be a frightening and overwhelming situation.
Suicide is preventable and this book helps you to know how.
