September is Suicide Prevention Awareness Month

Countway Cares about ... your peace of mind.

National Suicide Prevention Awareness Month is an opportunity to raise awareness of a stigmatized, and often taboo, topic. In addition to shifting public perception, we use this month to spread hope and vital information to people affected by suicide. Our goal is to ensure that individuals, friends and families have access to the resources they need to discuss suicide prevention and to seek help.

If you’ve lost someone to suicide, know someone who has, or, have struggled yourself with suicidal thoughts, we want to remind you that you’re not alone. Suicide is universal. It crosses socioeconomic and cultural lines. It’s uncomfortable to discuss and difficult to predict. Please explore the information below; in addition to a number of therapeutic events which can be enjoyed individually or with others, we have compiled some practical resources and learning opportunities in honor of this important issue. Do you have something you'd like to add to our compilation? Please reach out anytime.

Countway Library Events

Countway has compiled a number of therapeutic events to gather with others or enjoy individually. Join us this month as we listen, learn, and heal:

Collection Highlights

Below are a few items from our collection to help kick-start your educational journey:

Cover image for Still Crying for Help by Sadia Messaili        Cover image for Suicide Prevention: an Ethically and Scientifically Informed Approach by Samuel J. Knapp        Cover image for Beneath the White Coat: Doctors, Their Minds and Mental Health edited by Clare Gerada and Zaid Al-Najjar        Cover image for Suicide and Social Justice: New Perspectives on the Politics of Suicide and Suicide Prevention edited by Mark E. Button and Ian Marsh

 

Cover image for Fine: A Comic About Gender by Rhea Ewing       Cover image for The Unapologetic Guide to Black Mental Health: Navigate an Unequal System, Learn Tools for Emotional Wellness, and Get the Help you Deserve by Rheeda Walker, PhD       Cover image for Head First: How the Mind Heals the Body by Alastair Santhouse      Cover image for Suicide Prevention by Christine Yu Moutier

Important Resources

Seek help

  • The 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline provides free, confidential, 24/7 support by phone [call or text 988 from anywhere in the U.S.] and online chat
  • Crisis Text Line provides free, confidential, 24/7 support by text [text HOME to 741741 from anywhere in the U.S.]

Resources for survivors of suicide loss

What can you do?

Support the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline’s (Lifeline) #BeThe1To movement by learning the five steps that can save a life and sharing them with others:

  1. Ask
  2. Keep them safe
  3. Be there
  4. Help them connect
  5. Follow up

Take Five Minutes to complete five action items developed by the National Council for Suicide Prevention (NCSP) for their Take 5 to Save Lives campaign:

  1. Learn the signs
  2. Know how to find help
  3. Do something to get involved
  4. Talk about suicide prevention
  5. Share the 5 steps

Learn about the Suicide Prevention Resource Center's Effective Suicide Prevention Model in a brief video: Effective Suicide Prevention

Listen to others

Learn from those with lived experience and hear their stories: