Archives: Videos

Dr. Jerry Reed has been a leader in the suicide prevention movement for many years. So it comes as a bit of surprise when he says, “Each of us in this field should be committed to looking to other areas, because the answers to some of our challenges lie in places we least expect them.” In this heartfelt talk, Dr. Reed offers a new way to help individuals – and the movement as a whole – move forward.

What if we could save lives…and save money? The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, with its network of over 150 crisis centers across the country and its volume of over a million calls per year, is succeeding in doing just that. Dr. John Draper, Director of the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, challenges traditional ideas about what the “best care” for people at risk of suicide is. And he champions a transformative one: “The best way to keep individuals safe is to empower them to want to keep themselves safe.” In this compelling talk, he explains how.

If you ask people what you should do to help a person who may be suicidal, most – if not all – would say that person should be referred to a health care professional or organization. So it may come as a shock to learn that many professionals and organizations do not know what to do…or even consider it their responsibility to do anything. In this provocative talk, Dr. Michael Hogan describes how the Zero Suicide approach aims to improve care and outcomes for individuals at risk of suicide in health care systems.

People easily understand the need to provide comfort and support to family and friends after the suicide of a loved one. But they may not realize how many others are affected by that death…or for how long afterward. In this talk, Ken Norton discusses the role of “postvention” not only as a response to what has happened, but also as protection against and preparation for what could happen. Mr. Norton describes how a community can come together to keep its members safe.

Who experiences the highest rates of suicide in your community or state? What age groups, sex, and ethnicities, and where do they live? Without data, how would you know for sure? Data tells us the “who, what, when and where” of a problem such as suicide, says Dr. Alex Crosby, a medical epidemiologist with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). We need data not only to understand the scope of the problem but also to make sure that suicide prevention programs are focused on the people who need them most.

Watch Dr. Crosby’s first talk on the importance of data (above), then listen to his talk on sources of data (below).

If we want to reduce suicide rates, new approaches are needed. But what? The Suicide Attempt Survivors Task Force of the National Action Alliance for Suicide Prevention has one answer—listen to what suicide attempt survivors have to say. According to Barb Gay, a task force member and community behavioral health provider, those who have survived a suicide attempt know firsthand the kind of care that people at risk of suicide need.

Why are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning (LGBTQ) youth more likely to attempt suicide than their straight peers? In this candid and compelling talk, The Trevor Project’s Ashby Dodge examines some of the reasons why. Without pointing fingers, she acknowledges that we don’t really understand this population well and calls on mental health professionals to provide more appropriate care to LGBTQ.

It’s time to change the paradigm when working with Native people, says Doreen Bird, a public health professional and Native American. We need to focus on the strengths of Native Americans and what has made them resilient. And we must involve Native people when developing suicide prevention programs in their communities. “This will empower the community and make the programs and services a whole lot better at reducing suicide,” she explains.

A lot of journalists are unaware that how they cover suicide can be harmful and lead to contagion or copycat suicide. Conversely, new research indicates that reporting on suicide and mental health issues in a way that shows hope and mastery over a crisis can actually reduce the risk of suicide, explains Dan Reidenberg, executive director of Suicide Awareness Voices of Education (SAVE). Utah television producer Candice Madsen has turned to suicide experts, such as Reidenberg, to more effectively cover this sensitive topic so that it not only boosts ratings but also saves lives.

Limiting access to guns can help save the lives of people who are at risk of suicide. And who better to take on this suicide prevention effort than the gun community, asserts Cathy Barber of Harvard’s Means Matter Campaign. Ralph Demicco, a former gun shop owner agrees, “I’ve experienced an awful lot of incidents where friends, customers, and acquaintances have taken their lives with firearms, so it’s a very striking issue to me.” Barber and Demicco joined together with gun owners and public health professionals to form the Gun Shop Project, forging an unlikely but highly successful partnership with the mission of reducing a suicidal person’s access to guns.