Information about suicide and a training program to understand and help prevent it …

With the messiness of 2020, there has been an uptick in people sinking so low into despair they have thought about or seriously considered suicide.

It’s a serious issue!

One so serious the American Association of Christian Counselors (AACC) has put together a training program to help anyone and everyone have a better understanding of the issue of suicide and what YOU can do to help prevent it. Below is information provided to me as a member of the AACC that I’m sharing with you with the hope you will consider participating in this training opportunity.

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Suicide: The Role We All Play in Education, Prevention, and Intervention

Suicide. No word by itself triggers more alarm, fear, and pain. The impact of suicide shakes families, schools, churches, and communities. Many feel helpless in the face of what seems like an ever-increasing number of suicides, but everyone has a role they can play to fight this epidemic.

That is why we developed the Hope-focused 3 “R” (HF3R) Suicide Prevention Training, an evidence-based training program built around three critical steps, stages, and strategies anyone can learn to help prevent suicide. Why? Because someone’s life might depend on it.

Suicide is a complicated topic, and one people do not feel comfortable talking about. Knowing what to recognize, how to respond, and when to refer someone can save a life with proven, hope-focused, suicide prevention training. With this training anchored in the HOPE we have in Christ, you will learn to recognize the warning signs of suicide, how to respond in critical moments, and how to refer to the right professionals during a crisis.

Our mission is to train as many as possible on how to step into the life of another person struggling with hopelessness and suicidal thoughts. We have all heard the terrible stories of the 15-year-old who was bullied, the veteran who could not take the haunting memories, the mom or dad who buckled under the pressure, or the older adult who just wished it would all stop. These broken souls are all around us and are crying out for HOPE.

The Hope-focused 3 “R” Suicide Prevention Training is here to give you words when you do not know what to say and actions when you do not know what to do. We will teach you the methods clinical counselors use, but do not worry—everyone can do this! With the mental health disaster from COVID-19, it has never been more critical for you to be prepared to give others HOPE when they have lost it all.

Hope-focused 3 “R” Suicide Prevention Training is designed for every grandmother, teacher, sports coach, father, pastor, small group leader, and even teenagers. Regular tuition for the three-hour, on-demand course is usually $89, but you can enroll as a Charter Student right now for only $39 — that is a discount of $50! Better yet … study together! This course is excellent for groups, and we have a special group price of $29 per person when you sign up five people or more. Get your family, colleagues, and friends together and be ready to help save lives with this outstanding training. We cannot wait to see how God uses the HF3R training program to SAVE LIVES!

You can learn more about this training opportunity and enroll by clicking here.

Some Statistics

“Since the COVID-19 pandemic began to spread rapidly in March 2020, more than 178,000 people have reported frequent suicidal ideation. Thirty-seven percent of people reported having thoughts of suicide more than half or nearly every day in September 2020.”1

“People screening at risk for mental health conditions are struggling most with loneliness or isolation. From April to September 2020, among people who screened with moderate to severe symptoms of anxiety or depression, 70% reported that one of the top three things contributing to their mental health concerns was loneliness or isolation.”1

“Youth mental health is worsening—9.7% of youth in the U.S. have severe major depression, compared to 9.2% in last year’s dataset.”1

“There is still an unmet need for mental health treatment among youth and adults. Sixty percent of youth with major depression did not receive any mental health treatment in 2017-18. Even in states with the greatest access, more than 38% are not receiving the mental health services they need. Among youth with severe depression, only 27.3% received consistent treatment. Of adults with a mental illness, 23.6% reported an unmet need for treatment in 2017-18. This number has not declined since 2011.”1

“Rates of suicidal ideation are highest among youth. In September 2020, over half of 11-17-year-olds reported having thoughts of suicide or self-harm more than half or nearly every day of the previous two weeks. From January to September 2020, 77,470 youth reported experiencing frequent suicidal ideation.”1

“Suicide is the 10th leading cause of death in the United States.”2

“Suicide was responsible for more than 47,500 deaths in 2019, which is about one death every 11 minutes.”2

“Suicide is the second leading cause of death for people ages 10-34, the fourth leading cause among people ages 34-54, and the fifth leading cause among people ages 45-54.”2

“In 2019, twelve million American adults seriously thought about suicide, 3.5 million planned a suicide attempt, and 1.4 million attempted suicide.”3

Reference
1. Mental Health America. The 2021 State of Mental Health in America Report. mhanational.org.
2. CDC. Web-based Injury Statistics Query and Reporting System (WISQARS). (2020). Atlanta, GA: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Injury Prevention and Control.
3. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. (2020). Key substance use and mental health indicators in the United States: Results from the 2019 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (HHS Publication No. PEP20-07-01-001, NSDUH Series H-55). Rockville, MD: Center for Behavioral Health Statistics and Quality. Retrieved from: samhsa.gov.