Blog posts with the tag "Suicide"

September is National Suicide Prevention Awareness Month. This month is dedicated to focusing awareness on training and resources specific to suicide prevention with the hope of decreasing stigma and increasing help-seeking behavior. When deciding what to write about, I wanted to focus on two areas that have really been pivotal in my clinical career path: eating disorders (EDs) and suicide prevention. Early in my graduate studies, my clinical focus was on the assessment and treatment of EDs.

Since 1968 Americans have known to call 911 during emergencies to activate either the police, fire department, or emergency medical response. When my own house caught fire in late 2019, as I ran to find a garden hose in the dark, I yelled to my then 15 year old son, “call 911.” It’s a phrase so ingrained in our American psyche that we instinctively know to activate that response in our times of panic, fear, and need. But each year millions of 911 calls are made due to issues related to emotional distress or mental health problems for which police, fire, rescue, and EMS services are not always the optimal responders.