{"id":15543,"date":"2025-09-12T15:21:15","date_gmt":"2025-09-12T19:21:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/news\/?page_id=15543"},"modified":"2025-09-12T15:21:15","modified_gmt":"2025-09-12T19:21:15","slug":"we-all-have-a-role-to-play-in-making-suicide-as-preventable-as-possible-2","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-2\/","title":{"rendered":"We All Have a Role to Play in Making Suicide as Preventable as Possible"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>September 10, 2025<\/p>\n<p><strong>Media Contact:<\/strong> Rachel Dumene, <a href=\"mailto:Rachel.dumene1@vdh.virginia.gov\">Rachel.dumene1@vdh.virginia.gov<\/a>, 540-480-4998<\/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 is Suicide Prevention Month<\/em><\/p>\n<p>STAUNTON, Va. &#8211; September 10 is Suicide Prevention Day. It\u2019s a time to raise awareness, remember those we&#8217;ve lost, and strengthen our connections. The Central Shenandoah Health District (CSHD) 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. 50 of those deaths occurred within the Central Shenandoah Health District.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMental health is a vital part of our community\u2019s wellbeing,\u201d says Dr. Allison Baroco, Acting Health Director for CSHD. \u201cThere are resources available for anyone who might need help, and it\u2019s important to know you are not alone.\u201d<\/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","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>September 10, 2025 Media Contact: Rachel Dumene, Rachel.dumene1@vdh.virginia.gov, 540-480-4998 We All Have a Role to Play in Making Suicide as Preventable as Possible September is Suicide Prevention Month STAUNTON, Va. &#8211; September 10 is Suicide Prevention Day. It\u2019s a time to raise awareness, remember those we&#8217;ve lost, and strengthen our connections. The Central Shenandoah Health [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":518,"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":[1139,536,195,197,1212,1213,709,86,1215,1214,1207],"class_list":["post-15543","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry","tag-988-suicide-and-crisis-lifeline","tag-allison-baroco","tag-central-shenandoah-health-district","tag-cshd","tag-guns","tag-medications","tag-mental-health","tag-suicide-prevention","tag-suicide-prevention-day","tag-suicide-prevention-month","tag-vdh-suicide-systems-project"],"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-2\/\" \/>\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 10, 2025 Media Contact: Rachel Dumene, Rachel.dumene1@vdh.virginia.gov, 540-480-4998 We All Have a Role to Play in Making Suicide as Preventable as Possible September is Suicide Prevention Month STAUNTON, Va. &#8211; September 10 is Suicide Prevention Day. 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