Persuading for Donations and Involvement with the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention

Have you lost a person close to you to Suicide? The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP) wants to help find better ways to help prevent the terrible last resort that is suicide, and the grief it can induce on people around the person ending his or her life. The AFSP hopes to create an environment that understands mental health by encouraging school districts, businesses, and communities to put mental health first. Most of all, it desires to bring hope to those affected by suicide.

"More people in the general population die from suicide than homicide in North America. There are almost 11 suicide deaths each year for every 100,000 people living in the United States, and for every suicide, there are between 8 and 25 attempts" (Brent 4203). Based on this research, the great effect of suicide is displayed. According to dictionary.com, suicide can be defined as "the intentional taking of one's own life." Suicide is a major issue for all people, but it most obviously affects those ranging from ten to twenty-four. People need to understand the tremendous ramifications caused from suicide everyday; when people take their lives, others lose their loved ones. Suicide, one of the leading causes of death of numerous people each day, has reached a crisis point for adolescents and young adults, and it needs to be prevented.

Pueblo Suicide Prevention Center was established on September 8, 1969 by twenty-three community members including some from Colorado Mental Health Institute and other leaders in Pueblo. The Colorado Mental Health Institute identified the need for an intervention system that would offer services to high-risk, crisis situations that would be immediate and easily accessible. This led to the formation of the 24-hour suicide helpline in Colorado. This action was considered a preventive response to decrease suicide attempts and suicide related deaths. In 1979, Pueblo Suicide Prevention Center became a member of the American Association of Suicidology. Then, became the first Certified Center of the American Association of Suicidology in the State of Colorado. In 2014, Metro Crisis Services also earned their accreditation and began providing services to Colorado.(Dorwart, 2015) .

Surgeon General and of the National Action Alliance for Suicide Prevention, National Strategy for Suicide Prevention: Goals and Objectives for Action, 2012 recognizes that prevention should be combined in all fragments of our lives, family members, health care providers, educators, communities and government should be working together in preventing suicide. Goals and objectives are directed to “create supportive environments that promote healthy and empowered individuals, families, and communities; enhance clinical and community preventive services; promote the availability of timely treatment and support services, and improve suicide prevention surveillance collection, research, and evaluation” (National Strategy for Suicide Prevention: Goals and Objectives for Action,

This past September, University of Miami staff, students and community came together to participate in spreading suicide awareness by taking part in the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention’s “Walk out of the Darkness.” According to the University of Miami’s webpage, with more than 39,500 lives lost to suicide this year, this walk is relevant to thousands of people in the University of Miami’s community and it’s clear that UM is eager to get the word

In the United States, suicide is the third leading cause of death for 10 to 14-year-olds (CDC, 2015) and for 15 to 19-year-olds (Friedman, 2008). In 2013, 17.0% of students grades 9 to 12 in the United States seriously thought about committing suicide, 13.6% made a suicide plan, 8.0% attempted suicide, and 2.7% attempted suicide in which required medical attention (CDC, 2015). These alarming statistics show that there is something wrong with the way mental illness is handled in today’s society. Also, approximately 21% of all teenagers have a treatable mental illness (Friedman, 2008), although 60% do not receive the help that they need (Horowitz, Ballard, & Pao, 2009).

The rate of suicide, the act or an instance of taking one's own life voluntarily and intentionally, increases each year. “More adolescents die each year from suicide than from cancer, heart disease, AIDS, birth defects, stroke, pneumonia, influenza, and chronic lung disease, combined” (Preventing Teen Suicide, 2016, p.2). These facts show suicide is a serious problem among teens. Last year, teen suicide became the second leading cause of death in the United States confirming the significant increase in teen suicides.

Healthy People 2020 set a goal of reducing the number of completed suicides among the adult population by ten percent. This is a reoccurring theme from Healthy People 2010, where the goal was to reduce the number of suicides from 10.5 to 4.8 per 100,000. Unfortunately, from 2003 to 2013, rate of death from suicide has steadily increased to the current rate of 13.0 per 100,000 deaths (Center for Disease Control and Prevention, 2013). The goal of Healthy People 2020 is to improve the health of our Nation over the next ten years, from a baseline set of data (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2014). Though suicide is not an illness, it typically is an untreated or undermanaged mental illness that results in a person resorting to

Every suicide effects more than the individual’s life, in truth it impacts families, communities and economic well-being of our nation. According, Piscopo, Lipari, Cooney, and Glasheen, (2016) “Suicide is an important public health problem in the United States and a tragedy for all involved—families, friends, neighbors, colleagues, and communities. In 2014, suicide was the 10th leading cause of death in the United States overall.1 Among people aged 10 to 34, suicide was the second highest cause of death, and for those aged 35 to 54, it was the fourth highest cause of death” (p. 2).

In 2004 Congress enacted the Campus Suicide Prevention initiative which provides funds through the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration Center for Mental Health Services, to college campuses nationwide (Smulson, 2016). The Campus Suicide Prevention initiative supports program activities, mental health screening services, and prevention strategies to form a foundation for mental health promotion, suicide prevention, and substance abuse prevention (Smulson, 2016). While research shows that mental and behavioral health supports can improve student life and functioning, the program falls short in some areas.

The group which interest me the most is a suicide prevention support group. This particular segment needs a practitioner who understands the perplexity of their issues. The goal should be aimed at bringing together knowledge about higher risk groups, effective interventions and available resources for this population reduce suicide but also provide support from those affected by suicide. (Doessel, 2011)

We have a strong desire to assist TCS with suicide prevention for middle school student. Also, we have goals of expanding to elementary schools. The Kristen Amerson Youth Foundation will utilize the SEL for Prevention’s Step-Up Program to equip children with tools & strategies to prepare them for life’s challenges and keep them

The centers for Disease Control and Prevention released a suicide report in 2015 stating that in The United States, suicide is the 10th leading cause of deaths. As many as 44,193 individuals have died per year, which means there is about 123 suicide deaths a day happening as of now in The United States (“Suicide Statistics”). This is only the statistics of deaths that have been successful in The United States, it is not counting all suicide deaths around the world nor suicide attempts. This alone is already a major issue everywhere in the world, but recently assisted suicide has come around the news as a new form of death. Although, assisted suicide had already been around since 500 B.C, the Ancient Greeks and Roman era (“Historical

The American Foundation of Suicide Prevention is a non-profit organization acknowledges that suicide and mental health problems are part of our society and by understanding this we can better support those in need, and suicide affects a tremendous amount of people and proper education and treatment can prevent people from committing suicide. “Each year in the United States, suicide claims over 40,000 lives - more than war, murder, and natural disasters combined…Suicide is not just a faceless health issue for our society - it affects real people.” (1.) The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP) which was founded in 1987, is one of the leaders in fighting against suicide by offers research, education to those in need, and supports those people and their families that are affected by suicide.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) National Vital Statistics reported that Suicide was the 10th leading of cause of death within the United States in 2013, accounting for approximately 41,149 deaths per year or 112 deaths per day (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2015). The CDC Division of Violence Prevention defines suicide as “death caused by self-directed injurious behavior with any intent to die as a result of the behavior” (CDC, 2015, pg. 1). Suicide rates have continued to rise each year since 2000, despite being identified as a leading health indicator in Healthy People 2010 (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, n.d.). Suicide rates are expressed by the number of suicide deaths that occur for every 100,000 in a population. In 2012, suicide rates increased to 12.3 per 100,000 compared to data from 2000, which reported 10.4 suicide deaths per 100,000. According to records from 1999-2013, suicide rates in Montana have been consistently higher than the national average (Montana Vital Statistics, 2013). The current Healthy People 2020 Leading Health Indicator goal is to reduce the suicide rate from 11.3 to 10.2 suicide deaths per 100,000 population (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2015). Suicide is a national and