Suicide Prevention
In Oregon, more than 400 people yearly kill themselves with a firearm. Due to the high lethality of guns, even if every person substituted another method for the gun, suicide rates would still plummet.
Learn more here about guns and suicide, see the Oregon suicide data. Read about QPR (Question, Persuade, Refer) and the ways you can intervene to stop someone from taking her or his life.
Many lives would likely be saved if people decided to not own firearms, kept firearms locked away, or stored them outside the home. Says HSPH Professor of Health Policy David Hemenway: “Studies show that most attempters act on impulse, in moments of panic or despair. Once the acute feelings ease, 90 percent do not go on to die by suicide.”
But few can survive a gun blast. That’s why the ICRC’s Catherine Barber has launched Means Matter, a campaign that asks the public to help prevent suicide deaths by adopting practices and policies that keep guns out of the hands of vulnerable adults and children. For details, visit Harvard’s Means Matter.
Black Lives Matter in Suicide Prevention
L.E.T.S. Save Lives: An Introduction to Suicide Prevention for Black and African American Communities is a presentation created in concert with an Advisory Committee of experts in Black and African American mental health and suicide prevention, designed to reduce cultural stigma, foster conversations about mental health, and raise awareness of suicide prevention for individuals who identify as Black or African American. While the program is designed for Black and African American audiences, it is open to anyone (18+) who wishes to attend. The program is grounded in research and delivered by trained presenters who identify as having lived experience within Black and African American Communities.
Prevention Paradigm for Native Americans
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.
Showing compassion, accepting cultures: Preventing suicide in the Latino Community
Culturally Competent Care for LGBTQ Youth
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.
Youth Suicide Prevention Program
Lines for Life launches “BeThe1To” program to spread the word about preventing suicide.
Find the Suicide Prevention Resource Center resources and programs here.
In Oregon, suicide is the second leading cause of death among Oregonians aged 10 to 24. In response to this statistic, the Oregon Health Authority developed a plan with strategies for communities to use to reduce youth suicide. Review the Oregon Youth Suicide Prevention Plan.
This plan outlines an initiative through which Oregonians can help break through denial and cultural taboos about death, help end the shame associated with suicide, help foster the conviction that not even one youth has to die by suicide, and help take responsibility by openly and honestly joining with other Oregonians to reduce suicide among our youth.
The strategies for state and community-based action require a commitment to partnership and shared responsibility among state agencies, between state and local governments, and between public and private sectors.
Suicide accounts for more than 80% of all gunshot deaths in Oregon. These tragedies are preventable.
Call or text 988 or chat 988lifeline.org
Foundation for Suicide Prevention: afsp.org
Mental Health Support
- Clackamas: 503-655-8585
- Clark: 360-696-9560
- Marion: 503-585-4949
- Multnomah: 503-988-4888
- Washington: 503-291-9111
Domestic Violence Services
Means Matter
Every U.S. study that has examined the relationship has found that access to firearms is a risk factor for suicides. Firearm owners are not more suicidal than non-firearm owners; rather, their suicide attempts are more likely to be fatal. Many suicide attempts are made with little planning during a short-term crisis period. If highly lethal means are made less available to impulsive attempters and they substitute less lethal means, or temporarily postpone their attempt, the odds are increased that they will survive. Studies in a variety of countries have indicated that when access to a highly lethal and leading suicide method is reduced, the overall suicide rate drops driven by a drop in the restricted method.
Did you know?
- Many suicide attempts occur with little planning during a short-term crisis.
- Intent isn’t all that determines whether an attempter lives or dies; means also matter.
- 90% of attempters who survive do NOT go on to die by suicide later.
- Access to firearms is a risk factor for suicide.
- Firearms used in youth suicide usually belong to a parent.
- Reducing access to lethal means saves lives.
Read more at Means Matter, published by the Harvard School of Public Health.
Far more people kill themselves with a firearm each year than are murdered with one. Suicide is the tenth leading cause of death in the United States, and in over half of cases, people used firearms.