Hope for Mental Health: 9 Quick Resources

9 Quick Resources for suicide prevention and mental illness lifelines

Whether it be a friend, family member, neighbor, or colleague, it’s likely that you know someone who is impacted by a mental illness. In 2020, 52.9 million (21%) adults in the US experienced mental illness, and 14.2 million (5.6%) experienced serious mental illness.¹ So approximately one in five adults are impacted by a mental illness, and one in twenty adults experienced a serious mental illness. While these statistics may be alarming, the numbers continue to reveal the dark truth about mental illness. 

• One in five, or more specifically 21% of adults are impacted by mental illness¹
• Only 46.2% of individuals with mental illness received treatment¹
• 155 million people live in a designated Mental Health Professional Shortage Area¹

With a shortage of resources, many people are left with little hopes of recovering from their mental illness. Unfortunately, all too often people turn to last resort and decide to take their own life. Suicide has become the 12th leading cause of death in the US accounting for 45,978 deaths in 2020 alone. 

• There were 1.2 million suicide attempts in 2020²
• Suicide accounted for 45,978 deaths in 2020¹
• On average there are 130 suicides per day¹
• Death by firearm is the favored method with 52.83% of suicide deaths²
• Suicide rates are 3.88 times higher in men than women¹

Although there have been far too many cases to date, we can still have hope to reduce the impact of suicide moving forward. Most people agree that suicide can be prevented, according to a survey amongst adults, 93% agreed that suicide can be prevented. So what now? Help may be closer than you might think with many people dedicating their life’s work to improving mental health. You know about 911, but do you know about 988? In July 2020, a new emergency lifeline was introduced for mental health crisis and suicide prevention. There are also many other helplines that are even specialized to a specific issue. Here are some quick resources that everyone should have and share: 

The National Suicide Prevention and Crisis Lifeline (988) is a 24/7 operational call, chat, and text service that accepts all calls related to suicide prevention, including calls from people who are concerned about a loved one. Responders are based in 200 local crisis centers across the US ready to provide resources to those in need. For more information about how to utilize 988, check out the SAMHSA Fact Sheet.

Want to do more to support the cause? Donate to a Charity Project or Non-Profit.

The National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) of Ohio is a grassroots non-profit organization that provides support, education, and advocacy for individuals and loved ones impacted by serious mental illness. Contribute to their local impact by donating to NAMI of Ohio, click here to donate now.

This article was created to spread mental health awareness and extend accessibility to services and resources for those in need. Save and share to keep this important information on hand for when you or someone you know may need it most.

References

¹Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Web-based Injury Statistics Query and Reporting System (WISQARS) Fatal Injury Reports. (2020, February 20). Retrieved February 9, 2021, from https://webappa.cdc.gov/sasweb/ncipc/mortrate.html

²Mental health by the numbers. NAMI. (n.d.). Retrieved September 6, 2022, from https://www.nami.org/mhstats#:~:text=21%25%20of%20U.S.%20adults%20experienced,represents%201%20in%2020%20adults