© 2024 WYPR
WYPR 88.1 FM Baltimore WYPF 88.1 FM Frederick WYPO 106.9 FM Ocean City
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Just Ask: Unconventional Methods Of Suicide Prevention

Melissa Gerr

On average five times an hour, an American dies by suicide--and many, many more--more than a million adults each year--try to take their own lives, and fail. It seems epidemic. But an economist at the National Institute of Mental Health, Michael Schoenbaum, says some straightforward steps would make a difference. If emergency rooms just asked every patient whether they’re thinking of suicide, he says--we’d find twice as many people as we do now. And we would not plant the idea.

For information about the National Suicide Lifeline, visit this link. 1-800-273-8255

For information from the National Institute of Mental Health and for prevention resources, visit this link.

For information about caring contacts and other resources, visit this link.

Sheilah Kast is the host of On The Record, Monday-Friday, 9:30-10:00 am.
Melissa Gerr is a Senior Producer for On the Record. She started in public media at Twin Cities Public Television in St. Paul, Minn., where she is from, and then worked as a field producer for Oregon Public Broadcasting in Portland. She made the jump to audio-lover in Baltimore as a digital media editor at Mid-Atlantic Media and Laureate Education, Inc. and as a field producer for "Out of the Blocks." Her beat is typically the off-beat with an emphasis on science, culture and things that make you say, 'Wait, what?'