September is National Suicide Prevention Awareness Month. Over 800,000 people die by suicide worldwide every year. In the United States, suicide rates have surged to the highest levels in nearly 30 years, with increases in every age group.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints provides messages related to mental health and suicide that are hope-filled and centered on the gospel of Jesus Christ. The Church provides the following resources to help prevent suicide:
- Website suicide.ChurchofJesusChrist.org, which is also available in the Gospel Library app in the Life Help section.
- Preventing Suicide and Responding after a Loss, a 6-page guide that reviews Church doctrine on suicide, the warning signs of suicide, how to help someone in crisis, and how to respond after a suicide loss. Leaders should review this document with stake and ward councils and discuss how to support community efforts and how to inform members about available resources. See this notice to leaders.
- Articles about mental health and suicide in the September 2020 magazines
- Articles from previous magazine issues: “Knowing ‘Enough’ about Suicide (Ensign)” and “Divine Destiny” (New Era), “Suicide: Myths and Facts” (Ensign), “Ambassadors of Hope: Working Together to Prevent Suicide” (New Era), “Suicide Prevention” (helps for children), “Knowing Enough About Suicide” (Ensign), and “The Bread and Water of Hope” (Ensign).
- A series of hopeful videos from Elder Dale G. Renlund, Sister Carol F. McConkie, a woman who found hope after surviving a suicide attempt, and a father who endured the suicide of his son away at college.
- Elder Renlund video “Understanding Suicide“
- Video “Suicide Prevention: Choose to Stay“
- Video “Self-Compassion: Be Kind to Yourself“
- Video “Rodolfo’s Story“
- Sister Aburto’s conference talk “Thru Cloud and Sunshine, Lord, Abide with Me!“
LDS365 also maintains an extensive list of Church and community resources” “Best LDS Resources to Help with Suicide.”
