Lived/Living Experience Community -- You Are Invited to Share Your Ideas at the Listening Session on July 26th at 8PM ET

Lived/Living Experience Community -- You Are Invited to Share Your Ideas at the Listening Session on July 26th at 8PM ET

The University of Rochester Center of Excellence and SafeSide Prevention are exploring the potential and feasibility of implementing Community-Led Safe Spaces…(as) an alternative to conventional supports like emergency departments and crisis stabilization units for individuals experiencing a suicidal crisis.

We are seeking your input and ideas around this initiative at an upcoming listening session…

6 Tips to Improve Your Heart Rate Variability (HRV), Vagal Tone, and Stress Management

6 Tips to Improve Your Heart Rate Variability (HRV), Vagal Tone, and Stress Management

Have you ever noticed how your heart rate changes when you're stressed or relaxed? Your heart rate is not constant but fluctuates slightly. This natural variability in heart rate is known as Heart Rate Variability (HRV) and is an essential indicator of our overall well-being. In recent years, researchers have discovered a strong connection between HRV, vagal tone, and stress management.

National Suicide Prevention Week 2022: Creating Hope Through Action

National Suicide Prevention Week 2022: Creating Hope Through Action

Starting September 4, individuals and organizations across the U.S. will engage in National Suicide Prevention Week in the lead-up to World Suicide Prevention Day on September 10. But suicide prevention doesn't matter for one day or week out of the year. Rather, it's a yearlong effort that requires patience, commitment, and—most of all—hope.

The 988 Launch – How are We Considering the Needs of Historically Marginalized Communities?

The 988 Launch – How are We Considering the Needs of Historically Marginalized Communities?

About 12 million adults seriously consider suicide each year. For those ages 10 to 34, suicide is the second most common cause of death. Substance use challenges, addictive behaviors, trauma and complicated grief often lead to tremendous despair and disruption for individuals, families and communities.

Recognizing these and other statistics, Congress passed the National Suicide Hotline Designation Act in 2020. The bill established means for a new, federally and state-funded network of suicide prevention centers that Americans could call with a 3-digit code: 988.

Now—after years of careful planning—the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline launches nationwide on July 16, 2022.

Guest panelists from several areas of mental health advocacy joined Dr. Sally Spencer-Thomas on June 23, 2022 for an #ElevateTheConvo Twitter chat about the initiative.

6 Tools to Mitigate Burnout – Individual and Organizational Solutions

6 Tools to Mitigate Burnout – Individual and Organizational Solutions

Burnout plagues workers, parents, students, and countless others. According to SHRM[1], in 2021 47.8 million workers quit their jobs, making the monthly average almost four million and the highest resignation rate on record. Fortune[2] reported that for 30% of workers left behind getting work done is a significant challenge, resulting many feeling decreasing loyalty as everyone fights for the war for talent.

Many speculate that this great churn in labor is the result of crippling burnout.

Denver-based Business, Nonprofit and Musicians Partner to put Mental Health in the Spotlight

Denver-based Business, Nonprofit and Musicians Partner to put Mental Health in the Spotlight

There is perhaps no better way to build a community around difficult challenges and loss than to bring people together to let them know that they are not alone, at least that is the hope that Dazzle owner Donald Rossa and United Survivor’s Board President, Dr. Sally Spencer-Thomas are operating under for Monday night's special fundraiser.

More Than Tired: Understanding Burnout

More Than Tired: Understanding Burnout

The term "burnout" has been a buzz word lately. So many of us have lived through the interconnection between work, physical health, and mental health. But what is burnout, how does it present, and what can we do about it?

11 Tips to Get Ready for National Suicide Prevention Week/World Suicide Prevention Day

11 Tips to Get Ready for National Suicide Prevention Week/World Suicide Prevention Day

This year, for World Suicide Prevention Day, the theme is “Creating Hope through Action.” For too long we’ve been stuck in “awareness raising” — a necessary but not sufficient condition for change.

It’s time to take action. Here are 10 tips for an impactful National Suicide Prevention Week (September 5-11)/World Suicide Prevention Day (September 10th) - action steps you can take with you to impact your community all year long.

The Long Haul -- COVID-19, Prolonged Toxic Stress & Mental Health at Work: The Bad News, the Good News & 10 Action Steps Employers Can Take that Make a Difference

The Long Haul -- COVID-19, Prolonged Toxic Stress & Mental Health at Work: The Bad News, the Good News & 10 Action Steps Employers Can Take that Make a Difference

As we approach 2021, we are still adjusting to the many new ways the COVID-19 pandemic is disrupting just about every aspect of our lives. Many are asking -- How has COVID-19 impacted workplace wellbeing? Are we facing a “perfect storm” of risk factors for suicide or are there aspects of this crisis that give us hope in our resilient human spirit? Finally, what can workplaces do during this time to support workers and their families?

Global Construction Suicide Prevention: Website Offers Resources in 8 Languages for this High Risk Industry

Global Construction Suicide Prevention: Website Offers Resources in 8 Languages for this High Risk Industry

Colorado. December 7, 2020. Around the world, the construction industry often has high rates of suicide. This trend is not surprising given that construction is a male-dominated field and men make up the majority of suicide deaths. Additionally, workers in construction experience many risk factors for suicide including chronic pain, sleep disruption, and high levels of stress. Today, United Suicide Survivors International in partnership with Dr. Sally Spencer-Thomas launch a website highlighting global resources to help companies, professional associations, and construction leaders take steps to prevent suicide, promote well-being, and offer support to workers bereaved by suicide: https://www.constructionworkingminds.org/.

National Guidelines for Workplace Suicide Prevention: Take the Pledge

National Guidelines for Workplace Suicide Prevention: Take the Pledge

We hope you take the pledge to make suicide prevention a health and safety priority at work.

Findings from a national survey involving over 2,000 U.S. adults (conducted by The Harris Poll) released this week found the overwhelming majority (81%) believe, as a result of COVID-19, suicide prevention needs to be a national priority.

Part 3: Standing in Solidarity for Suicide Prevention -- Acting in Solidarity as a Way Forward

Part 3: Standing in Solidarity for Suicide Prevention -- Acting in Solidarity as a Way Forward

Cross-cutting and intersecting identities add richness to our suicide prevention movement; however, in order to accomplish solidarity, we need to be willing to create safe spaces for listening and empathy. As part of this process we must acknowledge that identity fluidity is also expected as people move through various life experiences. Across both lived experiences and academic ways of understanding suicide, we have an opportunity to learn by removing judgment and blame, and seeking compassion — especially when we have been on the opposite sides of fear.

Five Steps in Building Solidarity in the Suicide Prevention Movement…

Part 2: Standing in Solidarity for Suicide Prevention -- Healing from Communal Wounding

Part 2: Standing in Solidarity for Suicide Prevention -- Healing from Communal Wounding

As the suicide prevention movement has evolved, some of our groups have experienced communal wounding. Communal wounding occurs when generations of the complex systemic oppression and culture level prejudice have been ignored in favor of surface-level activities (van der Watt, 2019). Because we were not sufficiently providing opportunities for all members of the movement to acknowledge these wounds and because many of us did not look into the mirror of our own lived experience, we continued to inflict new sources of harm.

Part 1: Standing in Solidarity for Suicide Prevention -- What Do We Mean by Solidarity and Why Does it Matter to Suicide Prevention?

Part 1: Standing in Solidarity for Suicide Prevention -- What Do We Mean by Solidarity and Why Does it Matter to Suicide Prevention?

Solidarity noun sol·i·dar·i·ty | \ ˌsä-lə-ˈder-ə-tē , -ˈda-rə- \. Unity (as of a group or class) that produces or is based on community of interests, objectives, and standards
-Merriam-Webster

“Any movement that hopes to sustain commitment over a period of time must make the construction of collective identity one of its most central tasks.” (Gamson, 1991, p. 27)

“Solidarity…holds great potential for understanding the transformative power…for social justice.” (Rogers & Calle Diaz, 2018, p.64)

Storytelling, Intersectionality and the Social Movement of Suicide Prevention: Complexity and Opportunities

Storytelling, Intersectionality and the Social Movement of Suicide Prevention: Complexity and Opportunities

According to Merriam-Webster, “intersectionality” is defined as “the complex, cumulative way in which the effects of multiple forms of discrimination (such as racism, sexism, and classism) combine, overlap, or intersect especially in the experiences of marginalized individuals or groups.” To date, this complex interaction has often been overly simplified in suicide prevention due in large part to the limited perspectives given from privileged people who have held positions of authority in the field of suicidology. In order to expand these perspective, we need to examine the many cultural scripts and diverse experiences that drive suicidal intensity, and listen to the many ways people have found pathways through despair and suicide grief. By appreciating the full question “Who AM I?” we find new opportunities and complexities in the conversation of suicide prevention. These learnings happen at both individual and community levels.

Everybody Needs an “A-Team” — Who Would Show Up for You at 3 O’Clock in the Morning?

Everybody Needs an “A-Team” — Who Would Show Up for You at 3 O’Clock in the Morning?

At some point life will bring you to your knees.

There really is no getting through this life without hardship. And to be honest, it’s the contrast against hardship that brings our life’s joy and satisfaction into clear focus. 

When life throws you into the river of despair, what usually gets us through is our “A-Team” throwing us a life preserver. They lean in when times get tough and their presence makes us feel like we matter. This crew doesn’t just materialize out of nowhere — it’s something we work on.

Soul Exhaustion: Going Beyond the Brain in Our Understanding of Suicide Intensity and the Overcoming of It

Soul Exhaustion: Going Beyond the Brain in Our Understanding of Suicide Intensity and the Overcoming of It

There is an element of humanity that is struggling with and ultimately often excluded from conversations about mental health in general and suicide more specifically. That element is spirituality, which may or may not be directly related to religion. Spirituality is difficult to measure and cannot be prescribed and yet for the span of modern human beings it has been a staple in understanding grief, surviving trauma and counteracting the hopelessness that we know fuels despair and suicidal intensity. 

ANNOUNCEMENT: First National Guidelines for Workplace Suicide Prevention: A Call to Action for Workplaces to Make Suicide Prevention a Health Priority

ANNOUNCEMENT: First National Guidelines for Workplace Suicide Prevention:  A Call to Action for Workplaces to Make Suicide Prevention a Health Priority

Today on World Mental Health Day, the American Association of Suicidology (AAS), American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP), and United Suicide Survivors International (United Survivors), announce their collaboration and release of the first ‘National Guidelines for Workplace Suicide Prevention.’ These Guidelines — built by listening to the expertise of diverse groups like HR, employment law, employee assistance professionals, labor and safety leaders, and many people who had experienced a suicide crisis while they were employed — will help employers and workplaces become proactively involved in suicide prevention in the workplace. Employers ready to become vocal, visible and visionary and who are ready to take the pledge to make suicide prevention a health and safety priority visit WorkplaceSuicidePrevention.com.

“Suicidal Intensity”: An Emerging Preferred Term to Describe Experiences with Suicidal Thoughts and Feelings

“Suicidal Intensity”: An Emerging Preferred Term to Describe Experiences with Suicidal Thoughts and Feelings

“Suicide ideation” — that’s what mental health providers usually call it. 

To the general public, this often sounds “jargony”. They say, “ideation — like what do you mean…like thoughts?” And we say, “Yeah…like thoughts…”

And they say, “Well then just say thoughts…” 

“Thoughts” though, don’t really capture the experience fully for most people…