Suicide Prevention Awareness Month

September is Suicide Prevention Awareness Month. Although mental health and suicide prevention is important to address year-round, Suicide Prevention Awareness Month provides a dedicated time for people, organizations, and communities to join their voices and share that there is hope, help is available, and healing is possible.

Messaging toolkit

This toolkit is designed for any person, organization, and community to use as a starting point to talk about mental health and suicide prevention. This year’s theme is “Creating Hope Through Action." The aim of the theme is to raise awareness about how taking action to prevent suicide can create hope and save lives. Research has shown that people are less likely to attempt suicide or to die by suicide in communities that support, care for, and affirm all their members. To make change happen, we will need to take action to shift our culture from silence and stigma to encouragement, understanding, and support. Each week we will highlight different ways to #CreateHopeThroughAction.

The toolkit contains ideas, key messages, resources, social media posts, webinars to attend and share, and other opportunities to learn and talk about suicide prevention. We encourage you to tailor these messages to best fit your community’s needs.

Download the Suicide Prevention Awareness Month Toolkit (PDF)

Download the Suicide Prevention Awareness Month Toolkit (Word)

View the Suicide Prevention and Mental Health Shareable graphics.

Light Up Purple for Suicide Prevention Awareness Month

Light Up Purple for Suicide Prevention aims to raise awareness of suicide prevention efforts and show support in Minnesota on Wednesday, September 10 and all month long.

Turning your lights purple is one way to show you care about preventing suicide and support those who have lost loved ones to suicide.

Webinar Learning Opportunities

MDH is hosting a number of suicide prevention and mental health webinars this month. See the complete list of webinars at Suicide Prevention Learning Opportunities.

Contact

Reach out to us at Health.suicideprev.MDH@state.mn.us.