{"id":15518,"date":"2025-09-10T11:57:14","date_gmt":"2025-09-10T15:57:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/news\/?page_id=15518"},"modified":"2025-09-10T11:57:14","modified_gmt":"2025-09-10T15:57:14","slug":"we-all-have-a-role-to-play-in-making-suicide-as-preventable-as-possible","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/news\/public-relations-contacts\/archived-news-releases\/2025-regional-news-releases\/we-all-have-a-role-to-play-in-making-suicide-as-preventable-as-possible\/","title":{"rendered":"We All Have a Role to Play in Making Suicide as Preventable as Possible"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>September 9, 2025<br \/>\n<strong>Media Contact:<\/strong> Dr Zelalem Attlee, Zelalem.Attlee@vdh.virginia.gov.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>We All Have a Role to Play in Making Suicide as Preventable as Possible<\/strong><br \/>\n<em>September 10 is Suicide Prevention Day<\/em><\/p>\n<p>WARRENTON, Va. &#8211; Wednesday, September 10 is Suicide Prevention Day. It\u2019s a time to raise awareness, remember those we&#8217;ve lost, and strengthen our connections. The Rappahannock-Rapidan Health District invites you to join us by sharing resources that can save lives. Together, we can help prevent suicide.<\/p>\n<p>Suicide remains a leading cause of death in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cdc.gov\/nchs\/state-stats\/states\/va.html#cdc_data_surveillance_section_3-leading-causes-of-death\">Virginia<\/a>. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/data\/injury-violence\/injury-and-violence-deaths\/\">In 2023<\/a>, 1,234 Virginians lost their lives to suicide. In Rappahannock Rapidan health district in 2023 18.4 adults lost their lives by suicide.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSuicide is preventable, and prevention starts with connection,\u201d said Rappahannock-Rapidan Health District Director J. Carr, MD. \u201cI encourage everyone to learn the warning signs, share the 988 Lifeline, and reach out to friends, family, and neighbors. Together, we can save lives.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Look for RRHD staff at community events in our health district for more information on suicide prevention.<\/p>\n<p>Here are some ways to get involved during Suicide Prevention Month:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Get familiar with the <a href=\"https:\/\/988lifeline.org\/\">988 Suicide &amp; Crisis Lifeline<\/a>.<\/li>\n<li>Link up with a local <a href=\"https:\/\/staging.afsp.org\/find-a-local-chapter\">American Suicide Prevention Foundation Chapter.<\/a><\/li>\n<li>Take part in an <a href=\"https:\/\/afspwalks.donordrive.com\/pages\/2497\">Out of the Darkness Walk<\/a> or start one.<\/li>\n<li>Volunteer with the <a href=\"https:\/\/namivirginia.org\/\">Virginia National Alliance on Mental Illness<\/a>.<\/li>\n<li>Connect your college or K-12 school to the <a href=\"https:\/\/campussuicidepreventionva.org\/\">Campus Suicide Prevention Center of Virginia<\/a>.<\/li>\n<li>Join the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/suicide-prevention\/suicide-prevention-interagency-advisory-group-spiag\/\">Suicide Prevention Interagency Advisory Group<\/a>.<\/li>\n<li>Ask your provider or hospital system to connect with the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/zero-suicide-virginia\/\">Virginia Zero Suicide Hub<\/a>.<\/li>\n<li>Contact your local mental health groups. Ask them to reach out to the VDH. They can request free training from the Suicide Systems Project on managing suicidality.<\/li>\n<li>Send <a href=\"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/suicide-prevention\/media\/\">Safe Messaging Guidelines<\/a> to your local news organization.<\/li>\n<li>Promote dignity through connection. When people feel respected, heard, and valued, they are more likely to seek help.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Take the free <a href=\"https:\/\/zerosuicide.edc.org\/resources\/trainings-courses\/CALM-course\">Counseling on Access to Lethal Means <\/a>(CALM) training to learn about limiting access to guns, medications, and other items that could cause harm. You can also access free, custom guidelines and resources from<a href=\"https:\/\/www.lockandtalk.org\/\"> Lock &amp; Talk Virginia.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>For more on suicide prevention, intervention, and postvention, reach out to the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/suicide-prevention\/contact-us\/\">VDH Suicide Systems Project.<\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"># # #<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>September 9, 2025 Media Contact: Dr Zelalem Attlee, Zelalem.Attlee@vdh.virginia.gov. We All Have a Role to Play in Making Suicide as Preventable as Possible September 10 is Suicide Prevention Day WARRENTON, Va. &#8211; Wednesday, September 10 is Suicide Prevention Day. It\u2019s a time to raise awareness, remember those we&#8217;ve lost, and strengthen our connections. The Rappahannock-Rapidan [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":444,"featured_media":0,"parent":12292,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"tags":[86],"class_list":["post-15518","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry","tag-suicide-prevention"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>We All Have a Role to Play in Making Suicide as Preventable as Possible - Newsroom<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/news\/public-relations-contacts\/archived-news-releases\/2025-regional-news-releases\/we-all-have-a-role-to-play-in-making-suicide-as-preventable-as-possible\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"We All Have a Role to Play in Making Suicide as Preventable as Possible - Newsroom\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"September 9, 2025 Media Contact: Dr Zelalem Attlee, Zelalem.Attlee@vdh.virginia.gov. We All Have a Role to Play in Making Suicide as Preventable as Possible September 10 is Suicide Prevention Day WARRENTON, Va. &#8211; Wednesday, September 10 is Suicide Prevention Day. It\u2019s a time to raise awareness, remember those we&#8217;ve lost, and strengthen our connections. The Rappahannock-Rapidan [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/news\/public-relations-contacts\/archived-news-releases\/2025-regional-news-releases\/we-all-have-a-role-to-play-in-making-suicide-as-preventable-as-possible\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Newsroom\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\\\/news\\\/public-relations-contacts\\\/archived-news-releases\\\/2025-regional-news-releases\\\/we-all-have-a-role-to-play-in-making-suicide-as-preventable-as-possible\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\\\/news\\\/public-relations-contacts\\\/archived-news-releases\\\/2025-regional-news-releases\\\/we-all-have-a-role-to-play-in-making-suicide-as-preventable-as-possible\\\/\",\"name\":\"We All Have a Role to Play in Making Suicide as Preventable as Possible - Newsroom\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\\\/news\\\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2025-09-10T15:57:14+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\\\/news\\\/public-relations-contacts\\\/archived-news-releases\\\/2025-regional-news-releases\\\/we-all-have-a-role-to-play-in-making-suicide-as-preventable-as-possible\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\\\/news\\\/public-relations-contacts\\\/archived-news-releases\\\/2025-regional-news-releases\\\/we-all-have-a-role-to-play-in-making-suicide-as-preventable-as-possible\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\\\/news\\\/public-relations-contacts\\\/archived-news-releases\\\/2025-regional-news-releases\\\/we-all-have-a-role-to-play-in-making-suicide-as-preventable-as-possible\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\\\/news\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Newsroom\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\\\/news\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"Archived News Releases\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\\\/news\\\/public-relations-contacts\\\/archived-news-releases\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":4,\"name\":\"2025 Regional News Releases\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\\\/news\\\/public-relations-contacts\\\/archived-news-releases\\\/2025-regional-news-releases\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":5,\"name\":\"We All Have a Role to Play in Making Suicide as Preventable as Possible\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\\\/news\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\\\/news\\\/\",\"name\":\"Newsroom\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\\\/news\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"We All Have a Role to Play in Making Suicide as Preventable as Possible - Newsroom","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/news\/public-relations-contacts\/archived-news-releases\/2025-regional-news-releases\/we-all-have-a-role-to-play-in-making-suicide-as-preventable-as-possible\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"We All Have a Role to Play in Making Suicide as Preventable as Possible - Newsroom","og_description":"September 9, 2025 Media Contact: Dr Zelalem Attlee, Zelalem.Attlee@vdh.virginia.gov. We All Have a Role to Play in Making Suicide as Preventable as Possible September 10 is Suicide Prevention Day WARRENTON, Va. &#8211; Wednesday, September 10 is Suicide Prevention Day. It\u2019s a time to raise awareness, remember those we&#8217;ve lost, and strengthen our connections. The Rappahannock-Rapidan [&hellip;]","og_url":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/news\/public-relations-contacts\/archived-news-releases\/2025-regional-news-releases\/we-all-have-a-role-to-play-in-making-suicide-as-preventable-as-possible\/","og_site_name":"Newsroom","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/news\/public-relations-contacts\/archived-news-releases\/2025-regional-news-releases\/we-all-have-a-role-to-play-in-making-suicide-as-preventable-as-possible\/","url":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/news\/public-relations-contacts\/archived-news-releases\/2025-regional-news-releases\/we-all-have-a-role-to-play-in-making-suicide-as-preventable-as-possible\/","name":"We All Have a Role to Play in Making Suicide as Preventable as Possible - Newsroom","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/news\/#website"},"datePublished":"2025-09-10T15:57:14+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/news\/public-relations-contacts\/archived-news-releases\/2025-regional-news-releases\/we-all-have-a-role-to-play-in-making-suicide-as-preventable-as-possible\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/news\/public-relations-contacts\/archived-news-releases\/2025-regional-news-releases\/we-all-have-a-role-to-play-in-making-suicide-as-preventable-as-possible\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/news\/public-relations-contacts\/archived-news-releases\/2025-regional-news-releases\/we-all-have-a-role-to-play-in-making-suicide-as-preventable-as-possible\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/news\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Newsroom","item":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/news\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Archived News Releases","item":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/news\/public-relations-contacts\/archived-news-releases\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":4,"name":"2025 Regional News Releases","item":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/news\/public-relations-contacts\/archived-news-releases\/2025-regional-news-releases\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":5,"name":"We All Have a Role to Play in Making Suicide as Preventable as Possible"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/news\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/news\/","name":"Newsroom","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/news\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/15518","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/444"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15518"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/15518\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15520,"href":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/15518\/revisions\/15520"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/12292"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15518"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15518"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}