Topic Specific Resources
Suicide Prevention Resources
Topic Specific Resources
Go Ask Alice!
Go Ask Alice is a web-based health question-and-answer service produced by Alice!, Columbia University’s Health Education Program. Go Ask Alice! provides information to help young people make better decisions concerning their health and well-being. Go Ask Alice! answers questions about relationships, sexuality, emotional health, alcohol and other drugs, and other topics. The addresses of e-mails sent to Go Ask Alice! are electronically scrambled to preserve the senders’ confidentiality. Questions are answered by a team of Columbia University health educators and information and research specialists from other health-related organizations. The Go Ask Alice! archive on emotional health also contains information on suicide and depression.
Samaritans
Samaritans is an organization based in the United Kingdom that offers 24-hour, confidential emotional support to people who are experiencing feelings of distress or despair, including those feelings that may lead to suicide. The Samaritans operate a free and confidential e-mail service, which generally responds to your e-mail within 24 hours. You can send an e-mail to jo@samaritans.org or use the Samaritans website to send a confidential e-mail that cannot be traced back to your address.
Ulifeline.org
Ulifeline.org is a web-based resource created by the Jed Foundation to provide students with a non-threatening and supportive link to their college’s mental health center as well as important mental health information. Students are able to download information about various mental illnesses, ask questions, make appointments, and seek help anonymously via the Internet. Resources offered on Ulifeline.org include a customized version of Go Ask Alice! That allows students to have virtually any mental health question answered 24 hours a day; a mental health and drug information library that features consumer health information from Harvard Medical School; and the Duke Diagnostic Psychiatry Screening Program, which allows the Ulifeline user to be screened for different mental disorders. While this screening is not meant to take the place of an evaluation by a mental health professional, a positive result suggests that the student would benefit from comprehensive mental health screening.
CollegeGambling.org
CollegeGambling.org is a nonprofit organization created by the National Center for Responsible Gambling which is financially supported by the gaming industry. This site was created as a tool to help current and prospective students, campus administrators, campus health professionals and parents address gambling and gambling-related harms on campus. This site provides resources to help you learn more about this issue and how to get help if you need it.
Suicide Prevention Resources
Suicide Prevention Resource Center
The Suicide Prevention Resource Center (SPRC) provides prevention support, training, and materials to strengthen suicide prevention efforts. Among the resources found on its website is the SPRC Library Catalog, a searchable database containing a wealth of information on suicide and suicide prevention, including publications, peer-reviewed research studies, curricula, and web-based resources. Many of these items are available online.
American Association of Suicidology
The American Association of Suicidology (AAS) is a nonprofit organization dedicated to the understanding and prevention of suicide. It promotes research, public awareness programs, public education, and training for professionals and volunteers and serves as a national clearinghouse for information on suicide.
American Foundation for Suicide Prevention
The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP) is dedicated to advancing our knowledge of suicide and our ability to prevent it. AFSP’s activities include supporting research projects; providing information and education about depression and suicide; promoting professional education for the recognition and treatment of depressed and suicidal individuals; publicizing the magnitude of the problems of depression and suicide and the need for research, prevention, and treatment; and supporting programs for suicide survivor treatment, research, and education.
National Center for Injury Prevention and Control
The National Center for Injury Prevention and Control (NCIPC), located at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, is a valuable source of information and statistics about suicide, suicide risk, and suicide prevention. To locate information on suicide and suicide prevention, scroll down the left-hand navigation bar on the NCIPC website and click on “Suicide” under the “Violence” heading.
National Suicide Prevention Lifeline
The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline provides immediate assistance to individuals in suicidal crisis by connecting them to the nearest available suicide prevention and mental health service provider through a toll-free telephone number: (800) 273-TALK (8255). Technical assistance, training, and other resources are available to the crisis centers and mental health service providers that participate in the network of services linked to the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline.
Suicide Prevention Action Network USA
The Suicide Prevention Action Network USA (SPAN USA) is the nation’s only suicide prevention organization dedicated to leveraging grassroots support among suicide survivors (those who have lost a loved one to suicide) and others to advance public policies that help prevent suicide.