Suicide Prevention Month: Resources for the field
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When the new National Strategy for Suicide Prevention and its Federal Action Plan came out in April, many of us praised the decision to update the strategy and provide a plan to support it.
More than a decade had passed since the previous version was released, and the decision to update the strategy was an acknowledgment that we can do more to reduce the number of people who die by suicide. The provisional number of suicides has remained steady at about 49,000 each of the past two years, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
But providing people with the help they need and reducing the number of deaths will require more than an updated plan.
As we observe National Suicide Prevention Week, Sept. 8-14, and Suicide Prevention Month, it’s important to recognize the need for better guidance on equitable approaches to suicide prevention including the three-pronged approach of prevention, intervention and postvention.
Conversations began in earnest with Prioritizing Equity in the 2024 National Strategy for Suicide Prevention (NSSP), which included two experts from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) discussing the strategy’s new pillar prioritizing equity for populations disproportionately affected by suicide. The goal is to help clinicians recognize disparities around suicide between different socioeconomic and demographic groups and specific approaches to address them.
We’re developing guidance for organizations in need of concrete steps to employ the new strategy and action plan and support prevention, intervention and postvention — not just for identification, but for longer-term engagement and treatment.
Prevention
Educating the community and staff within our organizations about suicide, which may include an approach like Mental Health First Aid (MHFA), is a great start to the prevention of deaths by suicide.
Taking prevention a step further, we want people to understand early detection and the importance of regular suicide screening and assessment. We hosted a webinar in February with Negley Associates and the Mental Health Risk Retention Group (MHRRG), The Next Step in Suicide Prevention, which includes Dr. Tom Joiner, who helped create the Interpersonal Needs Questionnaire and the Acquired Capability for Suicide Scale-Fearlessness about Death (ACSS-FAD).
Following screening, immediate and effective brief interventions can include safety planning intervention, means restriction counseling and other approaches, like sending caring contacts and involving family, friends and other supports.
Intervention
For those organizations that provide direct clinical services, the second prong of the approach is intervention. That is where more clinical approaches and training are needed.
There are a variety of options for helping people based on their needs and history, including dialectical behavioral therapy (DBT) and/or DBT skills, cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) for suicidal ideation, collaborative assessment and management of suicidality (CAMS), interpersonal therapy (IPT), neurotherapy/neurostimulation therapies, psychodynamic therapy and mindfulness-based therapies and techniques.
Medications are sometimes prescribed, as well. There can be other intersecting conditions — like substance use, trauma, anxiety and depression — so additional connected treatments and considerations may be needed. Regardless of the intervention, it is important that the response is equitably matched to the person experiencing suicidality.
Postvention
The third prong is postvention, which describes how we follow up after a suicide attempt or a death. It’s about helping and healing everyone involved (including organizational staff) immediately and over the long term.
Postvention includes incident debriefing, providing ongoing bereavement care, doing a root-cause analysis of the event, and making improvements in the immediate aftermath followed by the regular ongoing process of data collection, analysis and continuous quality improvement.
More Resources
Many other organizations are also engaged in creating resources to help clinicians and others in the field. We’ve presented various webinars with Relias on suicide prevention and postvention, including one focusing on youth and another focusing on the Black community.
On Sept. 12, we will co-present a webinar on suicide risk, Three Crucial Factors in Treating Suicide Risk: Lessons Learned from the Interpersonal Theory of Suicide.
Zero Suicide has created resources for clinicians serving Native American populations, veterans and others on its Toolkit and Resources pages. Zero Suicide is helping organizations with the process of implementing suicide prevention, intervention and postvention.
The Suicide Prevention Resource Center has several resources, including training and a guide to creating an effective suicide prevention model.
Resources exist for people outside the mental health, physical health, and substance use fields, as well. For example, Soul Shop™ for Black Churches is a one-day workshop for Black clergy.
MHFA continues to provide teach participants to identify, understand and respond to signs of mental health and substance use challenges through its public education programs for early intervention.
The Trevor Project has resources to help talk about suicide with LGBTQ+ youth.
No one is immune from a mental health challenge. So, as we observe National Suicide Prevention Week, let’s do all we can to help those in crisis, because every life counts.
Register for our Sept. 12 webinar on suicide risk, Three Crucial Factors in Treating Suicide Risk: Lessons Learned from the Interpersonal Theory of Suicide.
In addition, you can show your support on National Suicide Prevention Month, National Suicide Prevention Week and World Suicide Prevention Day (Sept. 10) by downloading and sharing resources from the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH). Educate yourself and others about suicide prevention by downloading resources from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). Download a two-page resource from the Suicide Prevention Resource Center to learn how anyone, anywhere, can get involved in Suicide Prevention Month.
You can also check out these other great resources:
National Action Alliance for Suicide Prevention
American Foundation for Suicide Prevention
Now Matters Now
