AFSP-Greater Houston Area Recognizes National Suicide Prevention Week

HOUSTON - Aug. 28, 2013 - PRLog -- HOUSTON, TX: September 8^th- September 14th – In recognition of National Suicide Prevention Week (September 8-14), the Greater Houston Chapter of the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention  would like to use this time to encourage the public to learn more about suicide and ways to prevent it.  Awareness of some of the key suicide warning signs such as feeling hopeless, withdrawing from friends and family and making suicidal statements, can help save lives.  If you or someone you know is feeling suicidal or just needs to talk, call 800-273-TALK (8255). Help is available 24 hours a day, every day.

Another way the you can help is by participating in the upcoming Out of the Darkness Community Walk here in the Greater Houston Area at Town Green Park in The Woodlands on November 2, 2013.  Whether you have been touched personally by suicide or not, we encourage everyone to participate.  Funds will support the mission of the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention funding national and local suicide prevention programs and research.

The Greater Houston Area Out of the Darkness Walk is one of more than 300 Out of the Darkness Community Walks being held this fall nationwide.  The walks are expected to unite more than 100,000 walkers nationally and raise more than$9.5 million for suicide prevention efforts.

According to AFSP, close to 700,000 people will make a suicide attempt requiring medical care and more than 38,000 will die by suicide in the U.S. every year. “Despite the troubling statistics, an important goal of the walk is to stress that suicide can be prevented. The walk is also a call to action that more must be done to prevent suicide, nationally and in communities across the country,” said Robert Gebbia, executive director for the foundation.

“We know that the best way to prevent suicide is through the early recognition and treatment of the mental disorders that can contribute to suicide. Unfortunately, stigma about disorders such as depression, bipolar illness, and alcohol and substance abuse, keeps people from getting the treatment they need.  The Overnight is about eliminating that stigma.  It’s about bringing hope to those who have been affected by suicide,” he continued.

About the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention:

The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention is the leading national not-for-profit organization exclusively dedicated to understanding and preventing suicide through research, education and advocacy as well as to reaching out to people with mental disorders and those impacted by suicide.  For more information please visit www.afsp.org.