In September the United States Surgeon General‘s office, along with the National Action Alliance for Suicide Prevention, released the new 2012 National Strategy for Suicide Prevention. With particular focus on military personnel and veterans, the strategy outlines the goals and objectives for decreasing the number of suicides in America over the next decade. Here is an excerpt from the Strategy itself:
“As the Surgeon General, I want to help make Americans aware of the heavy burden suicide imposes on our nation, and more importantly, do everything I can to help reduce the toll that suicide takes on America. that is what this document is all about.
No matter where we live or what we do every day, each of us has a role in preventing suicide. Our actions can make a diference. While a document alone will not prevent a single suicide, I hope that this document will help spur and leverage all of our actions so we can make real progress now in preventing suicide. We have no time to waste.”
You read read the 2012 National Strategy for Suicide Prevention in full HERE.
As the Surgeon General states, we all play a part. Social workers are obviously key persons in identifying  individuals at risk for suicide, and it is important we continue to spread this awareness and help decrease suicides. You can help beyond your practice, by educating your friends, clients, and others about noticing suicidality.
Here are some other helpful resources:
American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP): For events, resources, and education materials.
AFSP Commentary on the Strategy and their hope of being involved in making it a reality
 Surgeon General’s Strategy Resources
Surgeon General’s Suicide Fact Sheet
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Great article Georgia and a really important topic. For everyone’s info, The National Suicide hotline is 1800-273-talk(8255) for Veterans, press 1.
I’m going to be passing this along on my blogs.
Thanks for spreading the word!
This is getting quite a favorable response over on Tumblr. It has already been liked and reblogged several times.
Excellent!