Connecting for Suicide Prevention

The theme of this year’s World Suicide Prevention Day/National Suicide Prevention Week is Suicide Prevention: One World Connected. The importance of social connections is not news to those of us engaged in suicide prevention. As a protective factor, social connectedness is so critical that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention made it the theme of its five-year strategic direction for the prevention of suicidal behavior. I would like to suggest that we use the opportunity presented by the theme of this year’s World Suicide Prevention Day to look beyond the value of social connectedness as a protective factor and think about other ways that connections can enhance our work and, ultimately, save lives. These other forms of connections include connections among systems, partners, users and providers; connections between funders and programmers; and connections among suicide prevention practitioners, researchers, and advocates from around the world.

Let me start with the strategy of connecting patients with an optimal care environment in which health and behavioral health care work together to prevent suicide. This approach is so promising it has been called “Zero Suicide.” This concept was pioneered by the Henry Ford Health Care System with great success. Many other organizations are now pursuing this approach. We will have much to learn from their experiences.

The progress that can be made by connecting representatives from the public and private sectors can best be seen in the National Action Alliance for Suicide Prevention which connects federal, state, and territorial agencies, nonprofits, tribal communities, corporations, institutions of higher education, faith communities, the military, and agencies and organizations serving veterans to advance objectives of the National Strategy for Suicide Prevention. The Action Alliance has also forged connections with organizations and agencies that have traditionally focused on the promotion of mental health and the prevention of substance abuse and mental illness. And the Action Alliance’s diverse membership fosters important connections among researchers, practitioners, suicide loss and suicide attempt survivors, and corporate CEOs.

I wrote portions of this column while in Tallinn, Estonia where I attended the 15th European Symposium on Suicide and Suicidal Behavior. Meetings such as this allow those of us in the field of suicide prevention to make invaluable connections to individuals, organizations, and ideas from around the world. The connections made at the Symposium are among people who share a forward-thinking, proactive outlook with the common goal of preventing suicide. They reflect the understanding that we should not need a tragedy to remind us that action to prevent suicide is necessary and that no one person, organization, agency, or discipline can solve this problem alone. I believe it is the strength and depth of our connections that will make change happen.

We already know the burden that suicidal behaviors have on individuals, families, communities, and our society – as well as on other societies around the globe. We can use the opportunity presented by World Suicide Prevention Day and National Suicide Prevention Week to continue our national and international conversations about suicide prevention and to spread the word that suicide is preventable; that connecting promotion, prevention, treatment, and postvention efforts comprehensively and strategically  saves lives; that our approach must include both upstream and downstream interventions; that both  mental health and public health approaches are essential; that people at risk for suicide can be successfully treated; and that those who benefit from treatment, intervention, and prevention efforts can go on to enjoy safe and productive lives.

We still have much to do. We need to make certain that people suffering from behavioral health challenges receive the same dignified concern, care, and treatment afforded to those suffering from other health issues. We need to take successful suicide prevention programming to scale so that it becomes as much a part of the nation’s health infrastructure as vaccinations and emergency medical services. We need to help connect people who have recovered to those just starting this journey.  We need to connect with and incorporate the perspectives of people with lived experience into our prevention efforts and service delivery approaches. We also need to connect health care providers with the training that will allow them to assess and manage suicide risk and we need to connect clinicians with effective treatments for people at risk for suicide.

Lastly, we need to expand our connections with public and private funders who can provide resources to advance our understanding of suicide and its prevention – a need outlined in the National Action Alliance’s Prioritized Research Agenda for Suicide Prevention – and who can provide the resources to bring effective suicide prevention practices to scale.  

Let’s use World Suicide Day and National Suicide Prevention Week to renew and expand the connections that support the important work in which we are engaged. These are the connections that bring innovation and solutions to the field of suicide prevention – and save lives.

Resources

For more information on some of the topics and initiatives discussed in this month’s Director’s Corner, please see the following.

National Action Alliance for Suicide Prevention

Prioritized Research Agenda for Suicide Prevention (National Action Alliance)

Strategic Direction for the Prevention of Suicidal Behavior (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)

Zero Suicide in Health and Behavioral Health Care