Suicide and Suicide Prevention Messaging

To talk about suicide prevention, consider your message and recognize that language matters.

As a leader in the public safety community, you can be key in how the messaging of suicide and suicide prevention is delivered within your agency. The National Action Alliance for Suicide Prevention highlights the strategy of messaging, and providing safe and positive messaging.

Your communication strategy

Strategy: to have a plan of action or policy designed to achieve a goal.

Our goal is to bring the topic of suicide out into the open in a safe and effective manner in hopes of prevention. Below are some key points to consider when starting the process of implementing a suicide prevention plan or campaign within your agency.

• Be Decisive. Why are you developing this message? Who are you wanting to reach? What are you wanting others to do differently after hearing your message?
• Be Focused. Make your message more focused by asking the “why,” “who,” and “what.”
• Be Realistic. Understand what messaging about suicide and suicide prevention can and cannot do when presented alone.
• Be Prepared. This messaging should be used in conjunction with other agency programs, services, or resources. Simply providing information about suicide and suicide prevention is unlikely to result in change. Be ready to discuss how to take realistic action in your agency and your community.

What to say

Once a strategy has been developed, it’s time to safely and effectively deliver that message. Provide a narrative about suicide that emphasizes solutions and action, as opposed to describing the problem in unsolvable terms. Provide concrete guidance and resources needed to take action to strengthen the idea that suicide prevention is possible. Below are some strategies to consider in safely delivering your suicide prevention message.

Messages that can help

• Focus on messages that highlight recovery. Consider contacting those who have experienced mental health problems or suicidality and sought help. There is power in sharing real stories of people who have found treatments or other supports that have helped them cope with suicidal thinking or other mental health symptoms.
• Use non-stigmatizing language such as “died of/by suicide” instead of “committed suicide,” and “suicide death/attempt” instead of “successful/unsuccessful suicide.” Describe behaviors versus describing someone as attention-seeking, crying for help, or being manipulative.
• Use data to convey more positive, relevant messaging. For example, highlight successful interventions versus deaths.

Messages to avoid

• Certain messages about suicide can increase the likelihood that at-risk individuals will consider or attempt suicide themselves. This ca include repeated, prominent, or sensational coverage of suicide, details about suicide methods, portraying suicide as a common or acceptable response to adversity, or presenting simplistic explanations for suicide. In addition, any personal details about those who have died by suicide may encourage identification with the person who died.
• Avoid communications about suicide that may unintentionally convey negative stereotypes about people with mental illnesses or reinforce stigma rather than countering it.
• Statistics are not always the most useful in suicide prevention. While that data may be attention-grabbing, statistics might discourage taking preventative action by portraying suicide as overwhelming and unsolvable, or making it seem more common than it is.

Positive narrative

In general, there is a positive narrative that can be delivered regarding the topic of suicide and suicide prevention. Be mindful to promote these positive messages provided by the National Action Alliance for Suicide Prevention:

• There are actions that people can take to help prevent suicide.
• Prevention works.
• Resilience and recovery are possible.
• Effective programs and services exist.
• Help is available.

Emphasizing information about suicide without also including a positive narrative, or action steps could limit your effectiveness. This does not mean that you should minimize the very real stories of death by suicide, but you should be careful not to portray suicide as inevitable or hopeless.

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