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State and National Suicide and Mental Health Resources
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State Resources
New York State Suicide Hotlines
http://suicidehotlines.com/newyork.html 
Description: County by county listing of suicide hotlines in New York State.
Samaritans Suicide Prevention Center
http://www.timesunion.com/communities/samaritans (Albany website)
http://www.samaritansnyc.org (New York City website)
518-689-4673 (Albany area)
212-673-3000 (New York City)
Description: The Samaritans of New York is the local branch of the international humanitarian movement with over 400 branches in 32 countries. A non-religious, non-profit organization, Samaritans is devoted to helping those people who are in crisis and feeling suicidal through our volunteer-run programs that practice a communications-based response called "befriending," which emphasizes listening to what a person in crisis is feeling and thinking without expressing personal judgments or opinions.
Mental Health Association in New York State (MHANYS)
518-434-0439
http://mhanys.org
Description: The Mental Health Association in New York State, Inc. (MHANYS) is a voluntary not-for-profit statewide association with 34 local affiliates located in communities throughout New York State. MHANYS brings together service recipients, families, professionals, advocates and concerned citizens to address all aspects of mental health and mental illness. They are dedicated to ensuring that public mental health policy is just, fair and promotes equality and opportunity. Major goals include promoting mental health, reducing the stigma associated with mental illnesses, preventing mental disorders and mitigating their effects through advocacy, public information, research and service.
Mental Health Association of New York City (MHANYC)
http://www.mhaofnyc.org/
212-254-0333
800-LIFENET (crisis line)
Description: The Mental Health Association of New York City is a private, not-for-profit organization that works to change attitudes about mental illnesses, improve services for children and adults with psychiatric disabilities, and promote mental health in the community through its direct service programs in New York City.
National Alliance for the Mentally Ill - New York State (NAMI
-NYS)
http://www.naminys.org
Helpline (800) 950-3228 or (518) 462-2000
Description: The purpose of the NAMI -New York State is to serve as an alliance of local mutual support, advocacy, self-help groups and individual members at-large dedicated to improving the quality of life for people with serious mental illness and to the eventual eradication of the severe effects of mental illnesses.
Teen Screen—Columbia University Program
http://www.teenscreen.org
Description: This website is a resource for school and mental health professionals and community leaders who want to begin a mental health and suicide risk screening effort in their own community and for individuals that want to learn more about the Columbia University TeenScreen® Program, universal screening, and related policy issues.
Families Together in New York State
http://www.ftnys.org
518-432-0333
888-326-8644 (information & referral line)
Description: Families Together in NYS, Inc. is a non-profit, parent-run organization that strives to establish a unified voice for children with emotional, behavioral, and social challenges. Their mission is to ensure that every family has access to needed information, support, and services.
National Resources
National Suicide Prevention Lifeline
http://www.suicidepreventionlifeline.org
800-273-TALK
800-273-8255
TTY line: 800-799-4889
Description: The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is a national, federally funded network of local crisis centers providing suicide prevention and intervention services through a toll-free telephone number: 1-800-273-TALK (8255). Its mission is to provide immediate assistance to individuals in suicidal crisis by connecting them to the nearest available crisis center in their area.
National Suicide Hotlines
http://suicidehotlines.com
Description: State by state listing of suicide hotlines
National Hopeline Network—Kristen Brooks Hope Center (KBHC)
http://hopeline.com
800-SUICIDE (800-784-2433)
Description: Since the suicide of his wife Kristen in April 1998, KBHC founder Reese Butler has been on a personal crusade. His mission the past 6 years has been to offer HOPE and the option to LIVE to those in the deepest emotional pain. This is being accomplished by:
- The sharing of Kristen’s story in an effort to offer HOPE and the message that depression is treatable and suicide is preventable
- The launching of the Kristen Brooks Hope Center and its primary program, the National Hopeline Network, 1-800-SUICIDE. Former U.S. Surgeon General Dr. David Sacher dedicated this national crisis hotline network in May 1999. In connects people who are depressed or suicidal—or those who are concerned about someone they love—automatically to a CONTACT USA or AAS certified certified crisis center.
Girls & Boys Town National Hotline
http://www.girlsandboystown.org
800-448-3000
TTY line: 800-448-1833
Description: The Girls and Boys Town National Hotline is a 24-hour crisis, resource and referral line. Accredited by the American Association of Suicidology, our Hotline is staffed by trained counselors who can respond to your questions every day of the week, 365 days a year. Over the past decade, more than 5 million callers have found help at the end of the line.
Covenant House NINELINE Hotline
http://www.covenanthouse.org
800-999-9999
TTY line: 800-999-9915
Description: Covenant House is the largest privately-funded childcare agency in the United States providing shelter and service to homeless and runaway youth. It was incorporated in New York City in 1972 and has since expanded in the United States to Anchorage, Atlanta, Atlantic City, Detroit, Fort Lauderdale, Houston, Los Angeles, Newark, New Orleans, Oakland, Orlando, Philadelphia, St. Louis, Washington D.C. and, outside the United States, to Toronto, Vancouver, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, and Nicaragua. The Covenant House Nineline (800-999-9999) receives thousands of crisis calls from youngsters all over the United States who need immediate help and have nowhere else to turn.
American Association of Suicidology (AAS)
http://www.suicidology.org
202-237-2280
Description: The goal of the American Association of Suicidology (AAS) is to understand and prevent suicide.
Founded in 1968 by Edwin S. Shneidman, Ph.D., AAS promotes research, public awareness programs, public education, and training for professionals and volunteers. In addition, AAS serves as a national clearinghouse for information on suicide.
Suicide Prevention Resource Center (SPRC)
http://www.sprc.org
877-GET-SPRC (438-7772)
Description: The Suicide Prevention Resource Center (SPRC) supports suicide prevention with the best of science, skills and practice. The Center provides prevention support, training, and informational materials to strengthen suicide prevention networks and advance the National Strategy for Suicide Prevention.
National Strategy for Suicide Prevention (NSSP)
http://www.mentalhealth.org/suicideprevention/default.asp
Description: The National Strategy for Suicide Prevention (NSSP) represents the combined work of advocates, clinicians, researchers and survivors around the nation. It lays out a framework for action to prevent suicide and guides development of an array of services and programs that must be developed. It is designed to be a catalyst for social change with the power to transform attitudes, policies, and services. The NSSP Goals and Objectives for Action was published by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services in May of 2001, with leadership from the Surgeon General.
Surgeon General’s Call to Action to Prevent Suicide
http://www.mentalhealth.org/suicideprevention/calltoaction.asp
Description: The Surgeon General’s Call To Action introduces a blueprint for addressing suicide—Awareness, Intervention, and Methodology, or AIM—an approach derived from the collaborative deliberations of the conference participants. As a framework for suicide prevention, AIM includes 15 key recommendations that were refined from consensus and evidence-based findings. Recognizing that mental and substance abuse disorders confer the greatest risk for suicidal behavior, these recommendations suggest an important approach to preventing suicide and injuries from suicidal behavior by addressing the problems of undetected and under-treated mental and substance abuse disorders in conjunction with other public health approaches.
Air Force Suicide Prevention Program, a Population-Based Community Approach
http://afspp.afms.mil/idc/groups/public/documents/afms/ctb_016206.pdf (PDF)
Description: This population-based prevention program enlisted involvement over several years by a broad coalition of community agencies, both inside and outside the health care sector, to significantly reduce suicide among Air Force personnel.
The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention
http://www.afsp.org
Description: The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention is dedicated to advancing knowledge of suicide and the ability to prevent it. The Foundation’s activities include:
- Supporting research projects that help further the understanding and treatment of depression and the prevention of suicide
- Providing information and education about depression and suicide
- Promoting professional education for the recognition and treatment of depressed and suicidal individuals
- Publicizing the magnitude of the problems of depression and suicide and the need for research, prevention and treatment
- Supporting programs for suicide survivor treatment, research and education.
The Suicide Prevention Action Network USA (SPAN-USA)
http://www.spanusa.org
Description: a non-profit national organization that links the energy of those bereaved or touched by suicide with the expertise of leaders in science, health, business, government, and public service to achieve the goal of significantly reducing the national rate of suicide by the year 2010.
Suicidal Awareness Voices of Education (SAVE)
http://www.save.org
Description: The mission of SAVE is to educate about suicide prevention, eliminate stigma and support those touched by suicide. SAVE was started in 1989 when six suicide survivors (people who have experienced the loss of a loved one to suicide) met and agreed on the need for an organization. The organization is comprised mostly of suicide survivors, and people that have suffered from depression. SAVE is committed to the education of the general public about the depressive brain diseases (such as clinical depression and bipolar illness) that can result in suicide if left untreated medically and psychologically. By educating the general public about such brain diseases, SAVE strives to remove the stigma associated with these diseases.
Teen Suicide Resources
American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (AACAP)
http://www.aacap.org/publications/factsfam/suicide.htm
Description: The AACAP developed Facts for Families to provide concise and up-to-date information on issues that affect children, teenagers, and their families. The AACAP provides this important information as a public service and the Facts for Families may be duplicated and distributed free of charge as long as the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry is properly credited and no profit is gained from their use.
ANSWER (Adolescents Never Suicide When Everyone Responds)
http://www.teenanswer.org
Description: The ANSWER Network began as a grassroots movement in Johnson County, Kansas in response to the impact suicide was making in the community. The goal of this program is to educate everyone about the risks of teenage suicide and to provide resources for help in an effort to reach our mission of eliminating teen suicide.
President’s New Freedom Commission on Mental Health
http://www.mentalhealthcommission.gov
Description: President George W. Bush established the President’s New Freedom Commission on Mental Health in April 2002 as part of his commitment to eliminate inequality for Americans with disabilities. The President directed the Commission to identify policies that could be implemented by Federal, State and local governments to maximize the utility of existing resources, improve coordination of treatments and services, and promote successful community integration for adults with a serious mental illness and children with a serious emotional disturbance.
National Mental Health Association (NMHA
)
http://www.nmha.org
Description: The National Mental Health Association is the country's oldest and largest nonprofit organization addressing all aspects of mental health and mental illness. With more than 340 affiliates nationwide, NMHA works to improve the mental health of all Americans, especially the 54 million people with mental disorders, through advocacy, education, research and service.
National Alliance for the Mentally Ill (NAMI)
http://www.nami.org
Description: NAMI is dedicated to the eradication of mental illnesses and to the improvement of the quality of life of all whose lives are affected by these diseases. NAMI is a nonprofit, grassroots, self-help, support and advocacy organization of consumers, families, and friends of people with severe mental illnesses, such as schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder, bipolar disorder, major depressive disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, panic and other severe anxiety disorders, autism and pervasive developmental disorders, attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder, and other severe and persistent mental illnesses that affect the brain.