Suicide prevention awareness month
September
Every year, the Lifeline and other mental health organizations and individuals across the globe raise awareness of suicide prevention during September.
National Suicide Prevention Month.
September – All month, mental health advocates, prevention organizations, survivors, allies, and community members unite to promote suicide prevention awareness.
National Suicide Prevention Week
September 10 – 16 is the Monday through Sunday surrounding World Suicide Prevention Day. It’s a time to share resources and stories, as well as promote suicide prevention awareness.
World Suicide Prevention Day
September 10 – It’s a time to remember those affected by suicide, to raise awareness, and to focus efforts on directing treatment to those who need it most.
The help you deserve is closer than you think.
Use the Local Resource Compass to search for free and reduced-cost mental health resources in your community.
DID YOU KNOW?
Reduce the stigma
Share Your Story
We would like to invite you to share your thoughts and experiences on what suicide prevention means to you. Whether it’s a personal memory, a lived experience, or the name of someone you have lost to suicide, we want to hear from you. For privacy, your stories can be anoynomous and please do not use last names.
For me, the number 988 is more than just a phone number. It represents life, something that can’t be summed up in a paragraph. I’ve lost too many close friends to suicide, and at one point, I even considered taking my own life. My difficulties stemmed from a range of issues. Mainly, I was dissatisfied with the direction my life had taken. As a child, I experienced a significant loss and was forced to move unexpectedly. I struggled to find a sense of belonging after that. Instead of confronting my problems, I kept moving from one place to another, hoping to escape them. I sought fulfillment through excessive partying, and when I lost hope of ever being able to attain the life I wanted, I tried taking it too far. I never told anyone. This is the first time I’m opening up about it.
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Now, as a 50-year-old who loves my wife and kids, I want to live forever. I consider myself lucky to have found my way back to the light. I would do anything in my power to prevent the list of people I’ve lost to suicide from growing any longer. I’ve lost too many friends, coworkers, neighbors, and amazing fucking people to suicide.
We do this beer because of Chad, Eddie, Mark, Jeff, Stevie, Dylan, Lucky, Worm, Jenny, Kristen, Michael, Tim, Chris…. We do this because we wish we would have been the ear, the push, the hug, the call. These were great friends and better people that I consider family, and there are many more, way to many more. If you’ve lost someone, fill in their name and remember what made them so special. The name itself isn’t as important as the person we’ve lost, the friend we miss, and the memories we’ll never get to create again. Sometimes I catch myself wondering how Chad would rate this movie, or how Eddie would react to that call, or what Lucky would think about this show. It’s heartbreaking to know that I’ll never get to find out. I wish I could have seen the signs and provided them with resources or had the resources myself to understand what I could do to help. They deserved a chance, a lifeline. 988 is that.
I miss my friends, my coworkers, my people and often, the mere thought of them is enough to bring me to tears. Life is short, but it’s precious. Let’s do what we can to help each other and make it longer. That’s why I urge you to support suicide prevention by spreading the word about 988. It’s important to talk about it, to ask for help, and to be there for others who might be struggling.
Please HELP US SPREAD THE WORD…. CALL 988, and let everyone you know about 988. The person who helped me out was a stranger, someone with positive words, and an open ear that really listened even though we had never met before. 988 can provide that person for someone and if this number saves 1 person it is a success.
Jon Lane
Owner, O.H.S.O. Brewery + Distillery
Last year I lost two incredibly special people in my life to suicide. Before that I lost someone at a very young age to suicide as well. The number of times that I have wished and wondered if that moment could have been changed has been endless. If they had just had someone to stop them or be there for them. The love the world has lost by not having them here with us is absolutely heartbreaking. I’ve seen just what help can do though. Someone very dear to me struggled with deep depression and thoughts of suicide and came to us for help a few years ago. With that one step of reaching out we were able to find her professional help, support, and love her in the ways that she needed.
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Looking at her today and how she has blossomed and loves herself is inspirational beyond words for me. That will forever mean more to me than I could ever share or explain. Personally, knowing my own struggles with depression and anxiety I know what a moment can mean as well. I have called the 988 number.
Since a very young age I have had moments in my life where I have had thoughts of suicide. It can feel like a silent and fragile struggle where reaching out to everyone around you can be the most overwhelming feeling. That call can feel like all you have in that moment. It can be all you need too. That moment of clarity and boldness to reach out to those around you for support.
When I look at my past and to my future, the memories and moments have all been worth staying for. The love I have found around me and the love that is yet to come has been worth staying for. Moments are more precious and the people in my life are more precious to me than they could have ever been before.
Loving, supporting, and uplifting those around you is so impactful and that’s why sharing my testimony is so important to me. So that other people who are struggling or have struggled in the past, know that they are not alone and there is support in their community. That there is a brighter future ahead, that they are needed in this world, and that when they make that brave decision to stay, we will be there.
9 years ago my husband and I drove from NC to move to CA. About 5 hours into our trip I got a phone call, my best friend had been found in his car in a grocery store parking lot. He had taken his own life. I had to pull over and cry for a long time. I had been to his house the night before to say my “it’s not goodbye, it’s see ya laters” to him and his roommate but he claimed he didn’t feel well and stayed in his room the whole time I was there. I didn’t get to give him a hug or tell him how much I loved him or say “it’s not goodbye, it’s see ya later”. His suicide changed me. I miss him so much. I hope by participating in the 988 Collaboration I can help by bringing awareness.
A life sentence to my mental health led me down the darkest paths of my life that caught up to me as I began to grow up. The depths of how deep the pain pierced my heart and the stimulations in my brain cut deeply. Growing up as a kid wasn’t always sunshine and rainbows with having friends and fitting in. The developing stigma began to take in effect back when i was in Kindergarten. Although, my memories are very blurry the farther I look back- I still remember what I was bullied for. To how I looked like to what I believed in. I grew up being someone that didn’t fit in- had friends along the way but ones that would later become strangers.
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Fast-forward to my teenage years- where I began to be a popular-unpopular person. It may sound strange saying that- but I was someone who everyone talked about, bullied, and was mistreated in so many different ways. I was an athlete my whole life- despite the circumstances of the pain alongside that and how i was always treated, I always put what i really felt behind me. The list is way too long of the hurtful things I have been told, but to name some experiences; Being pushed into lockers, called hurtful names, spat on, and simply abandoned for being myself. To heartbreak, where everything in my life decided to turn downhill. I was never a party kid or doing drugs. But, my tolerance level took a toll and I lost myself into this phase, getting me addicted to drugs like cocaine to numb the pain. I was tired of all the abandonment, painful years of suffering deep inside from how I have been treated by people I cared about. Prior to this first heartbreak that led me to overdosing and putting me into the hospital- I lost my passion as a collegiate basketball player who trusted the wrong people that caused more unbearable weight to my depression and anxiety. I overdosed multiple times on pain relievers to sniffing blizzards up my nose with cocaine. I got so out of control- i ended up in the hospital that led me into a comatose. I lost my feelings to live more and more , yet continued to live. Things became better after time. I ended up moving on and starting something else in life with building cars as a car influencer. I began to realize that I could win this battle i was going through. I found new love, my life felt as if it was going into the right direction but I didn’t realize the toxicity I had in my life for song where i became so comfortable. I got clean during this 4 year relationship that led to me being abandoned out of no where. Two heartbreaks that made me cry out for help- yet felt so hopeless. As i look back- I thought I was going through something that was easy to cope with… but none of what I was facing was easy. To being mentally abused and also jumped by 7 people between that break of not being in a relationship- that war inside grew. I ended up getting back into drugs again preferably cocaine. I began to party again, did everything we typically do when we experience trauma is we run and numb. Back in 2021 of September- my journey to recovery began. It was rough at first but I was introduced to music. Not yet, what I have become the past year which is actually an artist- but a music artist manager. I let that go and decided to realize my full potential. So i began to focus on me. Focus on my mental health. Focus on who I truly want to be. I wanted to keep living out my purpose in life and to share my story- there is a lot to it. I have left out a lot of extensive details but that is something you can get to know me through my music. I create to make a difference, i still fight the stigma every single day- but music has become my way of coping. Not drinking, not doing drugs, not partying- simply being the genuine and unique creativist. Life is what you make it, you are not defined by the scars you have. Whether they are scars you are able to see with your own eyes to ones that cut deeper- your story matters. You are not alone- you belong here. Its okay to not be okay, your feelings are valid and i believe just like what my brand stands for- spreading agape and living life with a purpose that leads to a story not being done written is the way to keep living. I have saved so many lives humbly, i have lost a dozen of friends from suicide. My focus it to bring awareness and prevent something that lingers within me at times but yet something we tend to ignore and not take seriously.
Thank you for sharing your story and this word of life and hope. I am leaving this message in remembrance of my son, Chase, who left this earth 20 months ago. Stay; -Kathy
Losing a child is the worst possible experience a parent can imagine. A child who passes from suicide comes with its own stigma. I am grateful to OHSO and other partnering breweries to continue to bring the topic of suicide prevention to the forefront. Prevention continues to save lives and continued conversations help support a community of loss survivors that continue to keep our family members memories alive. – Tracy
ways to help
Get Involved
Volunteer
Contact your local crisis center to find volunteer opportunities in your community.
Share Your Story of Hope
DONATE
Have the Conversation
Check in on your friends. We can find support and hope by having honest conversations with one another. If you think someone is struggling, trust your gut. Ask directly and listen.
Get Educated
Resources
Contact Us
If you or someone you know needs support now,
call or text 988 or chat 988lifeline.org
