World Suicide Prevention Day 2024: Changing the Narrative for Men and Their Families
September 10, 2024 was World Suicide Prevention Day
September 10, 2024 was World Suicide Prevention Day. According to the World Health Organization,
Every year 726,000 people take their own life and there are many more people who make suicide attempts.
When I was five years old my mid-life father took an overdose of sleeping pills after he had become increasingly depressed because he couldn’t support his family doing the work he loved. Fortunately, he survived, but our lives were never the same. I grew up wondering what happened to my father, when it would happen to me, and what I could do to prevent it happening to other families.
Although females, as well as males, can die by suicide, males at every age are at higher risk than are females. Yet rarely is suicide discussed as a health issue for boys and men.
World Suicide Prevention Day (WSPD) was established in 2003 by the International Association for Suicide Prevention in conjunction with the World Health Organization (WHO). On September 10th each year they focus attention on the issues, reduce stigma and raise awareness among organizations, governments, and the public…