September is National Suicide Prevention Awareness Month
CAMS-care is committed to providing information and resources to help individuals in the United States and around the world treat suicidal thoughts and prevent this leading cause of death.
We are joined in a singular mission along with mental health advocates, suicide prevention organizations, community members, and survivors of suicide loss to save lives. Together, when we make treatment services more accessible, promote suicide prevention awareness, and prioritize the mental health care of the general public, we will help make a healthier, more hopeful future.
If you or someone you know is in an emergency, call or text 988 immediately.
Training & Certification for Mental Health Professionals
Learn through on-demand courses, gain hands-on experience with role-play training and consultation calls, and earn Continuing Education credits through your participation
Thoughts Matter
Observing important occasions like National Suicide Prevention Week, September National Suicide Prevention Month, or World Suicide Prevention Day is important – but suicidal distress and mental illness take a toll on individuals all year long.
USA STATISTICS
from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA)
Deaths: In 2020 we lost 45,979 lives to suicide. Suicide is the 3rd leading cause of death for individuals aged 15-24 and the 12th leading cause of death in the U.S. Lives lost to Suicide in 2020 decreased by almost 10% which is very good news. Suicide as a leading cause of death also declined, mostly due to the inclusion of COVID
Attempts: 1,200,000 adults and 629,000 youth
Planned a suicide: 3,200,000 adults and 1,300,000 youth
Serious thoughts of suicide: 12,200,000 adults and 3,000,000 youth
THOUGHTS MATTER:
More resources should be provided to the 15,200,000 people with serious thoughts of suicide to prevent them from planning, attempting, or completing. Let’s work together to reduce suicidal ideation and the risk of suicide.
Suicide prevention is critical to saving lives. But Suicide-Focused Treatment leads to a life worth living.
Imagine a country where the 15,000,000 adults and young people suffering from serious thoughts of suicide receive evidence-based treatment that is proven to reduce suicidal ideation, hopelessness, and overall symptom distress, in as few as 6 – 8 sessions! The Collaborative Assessment and Management of Suicidality (“CAMS”) is one of a handful of evidence-based suicide-focused treatments being used successfully to do just that.
Outpatient & TeleHealth versus Hospitalization
Too often, current systems for “prevention” involve hospitalizing a person with serious suicidal thoughts, even though hospitalization and certain medications have long been associated with increased suicide risk. For the vast majority of people experiencing suicidal thoughts or a mental health crisis, outpatient treatment is most desirable and effective.
People with serious suicidal thoughts in this nation deserve better treatment. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we have learned that many patients prefer talking from the comfort of their own home as it avoids the stress of traveling to an office and the stigma of publicly seeking therapy. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has stated that people experiencing emotional distress can “access care from their homes with more options for safety, privacy, and convenience” through telehelath.
CAMS has been successfully used to support and treat people via telehealth. For more information on using CAMS and the Suicide Status Form with TeleHealth, consult our toolkits:
Hope has a New Number
The “988” phone number is now live!
We must ensure that individuals reaching out for help get exactly what they need. CAMS is an evidence-based program, proven to reduce suicidal ideation. We must do more than identify suicidal individuals, especially when they’re reaching out themselves – we must provide the effective treatment they’re seeking.
Systems of care managing suicidal individuals would benefit from more CAMS-care clinicians and the public can benefit from receiving a robust evidence-based treatment. For more information on CAMS availability in your state, consult the CAMS-care Clinician Locator.
Final Thoughts and Additional Resources
We recognize that states and counties are concentrating considerable resources to these major public health threats. But the solution must go beyond funding evidence-informed programs that merely identify suicidal thoughts, without applying an effective treatment. The evidence-based CAMS program gets to the root of the issue, by quickly reducing distress, hopelessness, suicidal thoughts and increasing hope.
That’s why, for the entire months of August and September, we are providing a 20% discount on all training courses including the CAMS book when you use coupon code thoughtsmatter2022 at checkout or when ordering training for your organization by contacting us.
You can access additional information for World Suicide Prevention Day, Suicide Prevention Week, and National Suicide Prevention Month through the following resources:
- 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline National Suicide Prevention Month
- National Suicide Prevention Month – National Alliance on Mental Illness