helpful resources

If you are having thoughts of suicide, you can reach someone 24 hours a day at the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline by dialing 988, or click here for their online chat.

There are hundreds more organizations working to reduce the alarming number of suicides, and other helpful resources, including people writing about their own experiences. Below are some we know about.

Suicide Is Different

In parenting groups I follow on Facebook, it seems like every day I read about teens struggling — sometimes with self harm and suicidal ideation — whose desperate parents don't know how to help. I always wished I knew what to say. 💚 Now I do: Suicide Is Different offers caregiver support! Please visit their website and follow them on Twitter.

American Foundation for Suicide Prevention

AFSP raises awareness, funds scientific research and provides resources and aid to those affected by suicide.

Listed below are additional resources for 🟦 suicide prevention, 🟥 mental health, and 🟨 grief support (naturally there is some overlap). I’ve also included a 🌈 for resources that focus specifically (though not necessarily exclusively) on the LGBTQ+ community. Check out these organizations to see the work they are doing. If you are aware of an applicable resource not on our list, please let us know using the CONTACT link in the navigation menu at the top left of the page.

• The National Action Alliance for Suicide Prevention offers an information-rich resource page. 🟦

• Active Minds is the United States’ premier nonprofit organization supporting mental health awareness and education for young adults. They have chapters on hundreds of college campuses where you can get help and get involved in making real change. Find them on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube. 🟥 🟦

• AIM Youth Mental Health is “finding and funding the most promising youth mental health research in the world, … building a movement devoted to the mental health of children, teens, and young adults.” Follow their social media for supportive content in your Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter feeds. 🟥

• The Alliance of Hope for suicide loss survivors offers an online support forum and the most extensive book recommendation section I’ve seen. 🟦

• Amanda Todd Legacy is a Canada-based antibullying organization. Amanda’s mom, Carol, has been an activist for years since Amanda died by suicide after cyberbullying. Watch the film, Dark Cloud. There’s also an extensive list of other movie and book recommendations on the site. 🟦

• The mission of the American Association of Suicidology is to promote the understanding and prevention of suicide and support those who have been affected by it. "We are an inclusive community that envisions a world where people know how to prevent suicide and find hope and healing." 🟦

• The Anxiety and Depression Association of America focuses on improving quality of life for those with anxiety, depression, OCD, PTSD, and co-occurring disorders through education, practice, and research. Follow them on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube. 🟥

• Befrienders Worldwide is a worldwide network of volunteers who provide appropriate emotional support services for people who are suicidal and/or in distress. The "Help & Support" area of their website includes sections on warning signs, listening skills, helping a friend, and even one for those bereaved by suicide. 🟦

• BeThe1To is a movement providing suicide prevention resources to the public, including five steps to help someone in crisis. 🟦

• Bittersweet is a blog written by a mother who lost her eldest daughter to suicide in 2013. Jenna was in the middle of her freshman year of high school when she ended her life. (Beth lives in my town and was generous enough to connect with me and offer companionship and comfort to me in the days following Rader's suicide. — Susan) 🟦

• UK-based Blurt Foundation is dedicated to increasing awareness and understanding of depression. Their website is chock-full of content: an extensive “get support” section, a blog, a resource area that includes a mental health toolkit. With each click you’re presented with more and more helpful material, so it’s easy to find something to fulfill whatever need you’re trying to meet. 🟦

• Lady Gaga's Born This Way Foundation is devoted to empowering youth and inspiring bravery. They work with young people to build kinder communities and improve mental health resources. Visit their website or follow them on Twitter and Instagram to see what they're doing. 🟥 🟦 🌈

• Boys Town — There’s so much more to this 100-year-old nonprofit than I can cover in a paragraph! They provide services, conduct research, and advocate for juvenile justice reform for children throughout the U.S., regardless of gender. Check out their vast library of parenting resources.🟥

• The mission of Bring Change to Mind is to end the stigma and discrimination surrounding mental illness. They create multimedia campaigns to encourage cultural conversation around mental health. Visit their site to watch and share some of their amazing videos. 🟥

• Dr. Alan D. Wolfelt’s Center for Loss & Life Transition is an organization dedicated to helping people who are grieving and those who care for them. A great place to start on their website is the grief page, which has resources for either “I am grieving” or “help someone grieving,” plus a bookstore, and links to find a grief counselor (or even learn to become one!). 🟨

• Jason Reid founded ChooseLife.org after losing his son, Ryan, to suicide. They’re featured in the documentary Tell My Story (here’s the trailer; you can rent the film for $3.99 here). Jay is determined to reach every parent and every family about the conversation they need to be having with their kids. 🟦

• The Columbia Lighthouse Project has developed a six-question protocol anyone can use to help someone who may be suicidal. 🟦

• The Compassionate Friends is an internationally known support group for parents who have lost a child. 🟨

• Crisis Text Line: text 741741 in the U.S. 🟥 🟦

• The Dinner Party helps grieving 21- to 45-year-olds find peer community and build lasting relationships. 🟨

• Don’t Give Up Movement prints encouraging messages on signs, stickers, pins, window decals, and sell them all at cost. Please check them out. What a simple way to make the world better. 🟥 🟦

• The Dougy Center, the National Center for Grieving Children & Families, has (among many other resources) several school and community toolkits to support grieving kids. 🟨

• You can find support for children and families affected by grief or addiction with the Eluna Network. Follow them on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. 🟨

• Take some time to browse M Abeo’s Faces of Fortitude, portraits of those touched by suicide. You’ll also find their work featured in the documentary Tell My Story with Jason Reid of chooselife.org (listed above), and they acted as host of the long-running LGBTQ- and POC- focused podcast Face to Faces (later called Faces of Fortitude: Behind the Lens). 🟦 🌈

• The Families for Depression Awareness website is full of helpful information — more than I can describe — from family stories to an expansive list of books and memoirs, including many I hadn't heard of before. Take some time to look around; it’s worth it. 🟥

• Find Your Anchor is a grassroots resource for suicide prevention. Click for an infographic about their mission and methods. They offer the FYAbox to encourage anyone who is struggling. You can order one for free for yourself or to give away. 🟦

• The mission of Forefront is to empower individuals and communities to take sustainable action to prevent suicide, champion systemic change, and restore hope. 🟦

• Founded by a psychologist in Washington, D.C., Give an Hour seeks to develop networks of skill-based volunteer professionals capable of responding to both acute and chronic conditions prevalent within society. 🟥

• Half a Sorrow foundation — helmed by mental health speaker Dennis Gillan — helps workplaces, schools, organizations, and communities throughout the U.S. deal with suicide risk, cope with loss, and foster connection through education and support. Locally in Greenville, S.C., Dennis also hosts a Survivors of Suicide support group called Embrace Tomorrow Together. It meets the third Thursday evening of the month. 🟥 🟦 🟨 🌈

• Hilinski’s Hope was formed, as was the Rader Ward Foundation, after the loss of a son to suicide. Tyler Hilinski was an outstanding college football player, so Hilinski’s Hope focuses on college mental health, particularly among athletes. They are working to fund programs that will help educate, advocate, and to destigmatize mental illness. 🟥 🟦

• “Inspired by hope, realized by science.” Hopelab is a social innovation lab focused on designing science-based technologies to improve the health and well-being of teens and young adults. Visit their website to see the range of important work they are doing, and read their fascinating blog. 🟥

• IDONTMIND is a mental health awareness campaign and lifestyle brand working to defeat the stigma around mental illness. It’s an official program of Mental Health America and raises money for mental health organizations across the U.S. Their website is full of useful resources: information about various mental health issues; a journal/blog of interesting articles; and a “find help” page with links to connect you to the support, services, and treatments you need. 🟥

• The Jed Foundation empowers teens and young adults with the skills and support to grow into healthy, thriving adults. 🟥 🟦

• The Leftover Pieces is a podcast and community led by Melissa Botorff-Arey. She’s a suicide loss survivor who has since become a grief coach and author. 🟥 🟦 🟨

• The LGBT National Help Center provides vital peer support, community connections, and resource information to people with questions regarding sexual orientation and/or gender identity. Click on each of the links on their programs dropdown menu for hours and information about their hotlines, including one for seniors, a weekly chatroom for youth, and a one-on-one peer support chat. 🟥 🟦 🌈

• The Liv Project is a creative collective determined to turn the tide of youth suicide. Their innovative approach includes both the short film My Sister Liv and a barrier-breaking tabletop game, The Game That Goes There. They also have an excellent resource page. 🟦 🌈

• Live Through This is a collection of portraits and true stories of suicide attempt survivors across the United States, curated by Dese’Rae L. Stage, a photographer, writer, and suicide prevention activist. Stage was one of the participants in CNN's Finding Hope town hall special. 🟦

• MakeItOK.org is a campaign to reduce the stigma of mental illnesses. They also made an amazing podcast called The Hilarious World of Depression which, well, you should just download some episodes and listen. Podcaster John Moe now hosts Depresh Mode. 🟥

• Mental Health America is the nation’s leading community-based nonprofit dedicated to addressing the needs of those living with mental illness and to promoting the overall mental health of all Americans. 🟥 🟦

• NAMI: National Alliance for Mental Illness 🟥

• The National Council for Mental Wellbeing works to ensure that mental wellbeing is a reality for everyone. Their site includes information on Mental Health First Aid training. 🟥 🟦

• National Council for Suicide Prevention is a national coalition of eight leading nonprofits working to end suicide in the United States. 🟦

• Our House Grief Support Center offers grief support services, education, resources, and hope. Check out their Grief Pages to help you meet your own specific needs in grief, or those of any griever. 🟨

• The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention sponsors Out of the Darkness Walks and Out of the Darkness Overnight Walks to raise funds and increase awareness. 🟦

• PFLAG has provided confidential peer support, education, and advocacy to LGBTQ+ people, their parents and families, and allies since 1972. LGBTQ+ folks of all ages, but especially young people, are far less likely to consider or attempt suicide when their identities are affirmed by those around them. Your local PFLAG chapter will support you in supporting your LGBTQ+ loved ones. 🟥 🟦 🌈

• Project Healthy Minds is confronting the mental health crisis and closing the treatment gap by focusing on the barriers that prevent people from getting support. Their /Guide for Healthy Minds is an easy-to-navigate resource page offering the help you need when you need it. 🟥 🟦

• Project Semicolon works at the international, national, state and local levels to prevent suicide using a public health model in suicide prevention; concentrating its efforts on education and awareness. They sell semicolon merchandise as part of their fundraising efforts. 🟦

• Sam Eaton's Recklessly Alive is a website where you can read Sam's story, and keep up with his speaking engagements and the other aspects of his suicide ministry. You can also buy and read his book! 🟦

• Refuge in Grief is the website of author Megan Devine, who wrote It's OK That You're Not OK, an excellent book about living with grief in a culture that doesn't know what to do about it. She hosts a podcast of the same name. 🟨

• Justin Preston has taken the most difficult things in his life and turned them into a campaign to help others with Rise Against Bullying. See him in the Dark Cloud documentary, and follow him on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. 🟥 🟦 🌈

• Founded by former pro sports executive Eric Kussin, Same Here Global seeks to change the global conversation through mental health advocacy. In addition to telling first-person mental health stories from celebrities, sports stars, and everyday people, they’ve also created an app for you to track trends in your mental health. Follow them on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. 🟥 🟦

• SAVE: Suicide Awareness Voices of Education was one of the nation’s first organizations dedicated to the prevention of suicide. Their work is based on the foundation and belief that suicide is preventable and everyone has a role to play in preventing suicide. "Through raising public awareness, educating communities, and equipping every person with the right tools, we know we can SAVE lives." 🟦

• SCDMH-OSP, the South Carolina Department of Mental Health, Office of Suicide Prevention, focuses on suicide prevention through the entire lifespan of South Carolina residents. Their motto is “While I breathe, I hope.” They have an excellent video resources section that’s not state-specific. And you can follow them on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. 🟥 🟦

• Are you worried about a friend but don't know what to say? Seize the Awkward is here to help. 🟦

• Sound It Out is a national campaign that uses the power and soul of music to help parents and caregivers better support their middle schoolers’ emotional wellness. Among their excellent resources is a fun music game you and your child can play together to help open the lines of communication. 🟥 🟦

• Speaking of Suicide describes itself as "a site for suicidal individuals, loved ones, survivors, & others who care." 🟦

• Stay Wear is a clothing brand that donates a small percentage of profits to anti-bullying and suicide prevention charities. 🟦

• The Suicide Prevention Resource Center is the nation’s only federally supported resource center devoted to advancing the National Strategy for Suicide Prevention. It has a comprehensive "News & Highlights" section. 🟦

• Suicide Is Preventable is a social marketing campaign that grew from Each Mind Matters, the state of California's mental health movement. It's built on three key messages: Know the Signs. Find the Words. Reach Out. 🟦

• Survivors of Suicide Loss, Greenville, S.C., is a support group for families who have lost a loved one to suicide. The group, sponsored by Mental Health America of Greenville County, meets at 7 p.m. the first and third Tuesday of each month. 🟦 🟨

• Take This®, Inc. seeks to inform the video game community about mental health issues, to provide education about mental disorders and mental illness prevention, and to reduce the stigma of mental illness. 🟥 🟦

• Teen Lifeline is a teen suicide prevention program in Arizona, but their 24-hour peer-staffed hotline (800-248-8336) and the excellent content on their website is available to those outside the state as well. They’re LGBTQ+ friendly. Twitter · Facebook · Instagram 🟥 🟦 🌈

• I can’t say enough good things about Teenage Grief Sucks! Their Twitter feed is full of truth and encouragement, and their website has everything from ways to support a grieving friend, to a place to share your own grief story. If you are or know a teen who is grieving, here is where you’re going to find the most help. 🟨

• Terrible, Thanks For Asking is a podcast from author and widow Nora McInerny. You’ll be surprised at how much you enjoy, in Nora’s words, this “funny/sad/uncomfortable podcast about talking honestly about our pain, our awkwardness, and our humanness, which is not an actual word.” 🟨

• Thrive Lifeline is a crisis hotline staffed by marginalized individuals in STEM who are certified crisis responders, specializing in text-based support for underrepresented individuals (person of color, LGBTQIA+, person living with disabilities, and/or other marginalized identities). Text 313-662-8209 any time. 🟥 🟦 🌈

• Trans Lifeline (877-565-8860) is “a trans-led organization that connects trans people to the community, support, and resources they need to survive and thrive.” Donate to support their lifesaving work, and follow on social media. 🟥 🟦 🌈

• The Trevor Project is the leading national organization providing crisis intervention and suicide prevention services to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning (LGBTQ) young people ages 13-24. Youth in need can call the Trevor Lifeline at 1-866-488-7386 or click here for TrevorChat. 🟥 🟦 🌈

• To Write Love on Her Arms is a non-profit movement dedicated to presenting hope and finding help for people struggling with depression, addiction, self-injury, and suicide. TWLOHA exists to encourage, inform, inspire, and also to invest directly into treatment and recovery. 🟦

• The Tyler Clementi Foundation is at the forefront of the fight against bullying. Follow them on social media and then visit their website to take the Upstander Pledge. 🟦 🌈

• What's Your Grief is run by a pair of mental health professionals specializing in grief and bereavement. Their mission is "to promote grief education, exploration, and expression in both practical and creative ways." 🟨

• A surprising source of suicide awareness and prevention information is this blog post by Michele Wheat at the Wristband Resources website. She also has collected resources about substance abuse, depression and bullying. She includes many links I want to spend some time checking out. 🟥 🟦

• The Yellow Ribbon Suicide Prevention Program® (Light for Life Foundation International) is dedicated to preventing suicide and attempts by making suicide prevention accessible to everyone and removing barriers to help. 🟦

  🟥 mental health

  🟦 suicide prevention (most of these organizations also have a mental health component)

  🟨 grief support

  🌈 resources including lgbtq+ support specifically