Suicide Prevention Awareness Month

Overall Theme: Stronger Together: Connect. Support. Prevent. 

Suicide prevention is not one moment or one person's job. It lives in the relationships we build, the support we offer, and the communities we create together. This year's theme highlights the importance of: 

• Strengthening connections that protect people before a crisis occurs
• Making sure everyone knows where to turn and knows it before they need it
• Building communities where people feel safe reaching out for help
• Supporting recovery and healing long after a crisis has ended

Suicide prevention touches every part of life – from families and schools to workplaces, faith communities, and health care systems. When people feel connected, valued, and supported, they are more likely to seek help. And when communities come together around a shared commitment to prevention, lives are saved.

These key messages and weekly themes are your starting point. Sample social media shareables are also included. Please feel free to use them as-is or adapt them for your audience.

Weekly Themes

Week 1 (September 1–6): Cultivating Connection Nationwide: Strengthen Suicide Prevention Together

• The people in our lives can be a lifeline. Strong relationships and trusted connections help protect people when life gets hard.
• Suicide prevention starts long before a crisis. Open conversations, shared resources, and visible awareness make a real difference.
• Knowing the warning signs of suicide, in adults and in children and teens, means being able to recognize when someone needs support and connect them to help sooner.
• Communities that talk openly about mental health and suicide help reduce the stigma that keeps people from asking for help.
• Prevention is everyone’s responsibility, not just one organization’s. Families, schools, workplaces, faith communities, health systems, and individuals all have a role to play.
• Small acts of connection, such as a check-in, a shared resource, a moment of genuine attention, are how communities take care of each other.

Week 2 (September 7– 13): Support Saves Lives: Connecting People to Crisis Support and Resources 

• 988 is there for anyone who is struggling, not only for people in a full crisis. Feeling overwhelmed or in emotional pain is reason enough to reach out.
• A real person answers every call, text, and chat to 988. The support is free, confidential, and available any time of day or night.
• 988 is available in Spanish, for Veterans, for deaf and hard of hearing callers via ASL Videophone and chat, and in more than 150 languages. Help is there for everyone.
• Knowing about 988 before you need it, and sharing it with the people in your life, is one of the most important things any of us can do.
• Crisis care goes beyond 988. Mobile crisis teams, stabilization centers, and community behavioral health clinics are part of a network that helps people through their hardest moments.
• Reaching out early, to a trusted person, a provider, or 988, before things reach a breaking point leads to better outcomes and more paths forward. 

Week 3 (September 14–20): Building Communities of Care Through Connection

• Treatment works. People who receive timely, compassionate care for suicidal thoughts or behaviors can and do heal.
• A safety plan gives people something to hold onto in their hardest moments: warning signs to watch for, coping strategies, people to call, and 988.
• Suicide prevention should be part of everyday health care, not only a crisis response. Screening, planning, and follow-ups belong in routine care.
• The days after someone leaves a hospital or emergency room are among the most difficult. Follow-up care and a call within 72 hours can change everything. Suicide prevention is possible.
• Getting care early, before a crisis escalates, is one of the most powerful things health care can do for someone who is struggling. 
• Connection, planning, and follow-up care make a real difference. When these pieces work together, they save lives. 

Week 4 (September 21 – 30) Healing Together: Supporting Recovery, Families, and Communities

• People come through crisis. They survive loss. They find their way back. Healing is possible.
• Those who have lived through suicidal crisis or a suicide loss carry something that matters — insight, resilience, and stories that make prevention more human and more hopeful.
• Being there for someone after a loss or an attempt isn't just an act of kindness. It is a form of prevention.
• Real change starts with real voices. Peer support, and connection with others who have been through something similar, is part of how recovery happens.
• Schools, workplaces, and communities with a plan in place after a suicide loss can respond with care, support healing, and help prevent further harm.
• Dignity starts with being heard. When people feel respected and valued, they are more likely to seek help and stay connected to care.
• September is one month. The commitment to connection, support, and healing is for all year long.