September is National Suicide Prevention Month, and September 10 marks World Suicide Prevention Day, a time to strengthen awareness and encourage action to help prevent suicide.
Education can play an important role in prevention. Increasing knowledge about suicide risk and warning signs can help reduce stigma, encourage open conversations, and empower families, schools, workplaces, and communities to connect at-risk individuals with professional evaluation and care.
Mental health professionals are essential to this effort. By continuing to learn, sharing evidence-based information, and promoting timely support, we can help build communities where more people recognize the signs and feel empowered to seek help.
This September, let’s continue increasing education, spreading awareness, and reinforcing the importance of compassionate, evidence-based care.
Session Spotlight
"Suicide Prevention: Cross-Diagnostic Strategies in Clinical Care"
Christine Moutier, MD
Chief Medical Officer, American Foundation for Suicide Prevention
Suicide risk is complex, dynamic, and often clinically modifiable. Dr. Moutier will share practical strategies for assessing and reducing suicide risk across psychiatric diagnoses, including individualized risk formulation, safety planning, lethal means counseling, treatment optimization, crisis response, and timely follow-up.
Clinical Takeaways:
- Treat suicide risk as its own clinical target, not just a symptom of the primary diagnosis
- Look past suicidal thoughts to each patient's unique, modifiable risk drivers
- Pair lethal means counseling and safety planning with timely follow-up
Register for 2026 NEI Fall Congress
November 5–8 · Colorado Springs, CO & Online
If you or someone you know is struggling or in crisis, help is available. Call or text 988 or chat
988lifeline.org. Veterans, press 1 when calling.