Resources on suicide prevention come in many different forms, depending on whether you are the family member of a person who has attempted or completed suicide, a young person who has thought about suicide or who has friends who are thinking about suicide, someone who has attempted suicide but survived, or a professional who works with families and individuals affected by suicide. This web site organizes resources, including publications and organizations, according to those categories. 

"Pennsylvania Youth Suicide Prevention: Five Years Later," PA CASSP Newsletter, September 2007 (published by the Pennsylvania Office of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services, Bureau of Children's Behavioral Health Services)

Youth Suicide Prevention Fact Sheet (Pennsylvania, revised August 2009)

Youth Suicide Prevention School-Based Guide: Published by the University of South Florida's Mental Health Institute, this guide which is also available on CD-Rom identifies and defines the elements of a comprehensive, schoolbased suicide prevention program; examines the scientific literature; and; and contains checklists and self-assessment instruments.

Substance Abuse and Suicide Prevention: Evidence and Implications—A White Paper (2008): Published by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), this paper focuses on the current state of knowledge regarding the intersection of substance abuse and suicide.

Webinar: Suicide Prevention in Rural Communities
On June 4, 2009, the Technical Assistance Partnership in Children's Mental Health hosted a webinar on "Suicide Prevention in Rural Communities." You can listen to the audio from the webinar as well as download the PowerPoint presentation.


Information on Reporting About Suicide and Concerns about Contagion:

For the Media: Reporting About Suicide: Research has shown that graphic, sensationalized or romanticized descriptions of suicide deaths in the news media can contribute to suicide contagion, popularly referred to as “copycat” suicides. The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention has worked with the Annenberg Public Policy Center to improve the way suicide is covered in the media.

"Suicide Contagion (Clusters)," by Madelyn Gould, Ph.D., M.P.H.: Concern about suicide contagion has increased due to a number of highly publicized suicide outbreaks among teenagers and young adults in recent years and to new evidence that a significant number of suicides appear to be associated with suicide stories in the mass media.  

Safe and Effective Messaging for Suicide Prevention: This document from the Suicide Prevention Resource Center offers evidence-based recommendations for creating safe and effective messages to raise public awareness that suicide is a serious and preventable public health problem.

At-a-Glance: Safe Reporting on Suicide: Another document from the Suicide Prevention Resource Center provides recommendations for reporter and editors for safe rerpoting.