Suicide Prevention Awareness Month: Renewing Our Commitment to Prevention, Recovery, and Hope

Suicide Prevention Month is an opportunity to renew our national commitment to addressing one of America’s most serious public health challenges. No one should have to face a moment of crisis or despair alone or without access to help and hope.

Suicide prevention work remains an urgent priority. It is a leading cause of death for several age groups, affecting individuals, families, and communities across our nation. In 2024, 48,824 American lives were lost to suicide.

But there is also reason for hope. Suicide is preventable, and encouraging data shows that progress is possible. SAMHSA’s 2025 National Survey on Drug Use and Health found significant declines in serious thoughts of suicide, suicide plans, and suicide attempts among adolescents ages 12 to 17. Separately, evaluations of the Garrett Lee Smith (GLS) State/Tribal Youth Suicide Prevention program have also found lower suicide mortality among young people ages 10 to 24 in counties implementing GLS-funded activities compared with similar counties.

These findings reinforce an important lesson: When we invest in evidence-based prevention, connect people to effective care, respond with compassion, and provide sustained support, we can save lives.

Secretary Kennedy has challenged us to address root causes of chronic disease as we work to build a healthier America. Suicide prevention requires the same commitment to understanding what puts people at risk and what helps individuals, families, and communities thrive.

There is rarely a single cause of suicide. Important risk factors include previous suicide attempts; depression and other mental health problems; substance use; chronic pain or serious illness; trauma and adverse childhood experiences; relationship, legal, job, or financial problems; hopelessness and social isolation; barriers to care; and access to lethal means among people at risk. At the same time, coping and problem-solving skills, reasons for living, supportive relationships, connection to family and community, timely access to quality care, and reduced access to lethal means can help protect against suicide. Effective prevention means addressing risks while strengthening these protective factors.

This is why the upstream focus of the Make America Healthy Again agenda and the prevention-to-recovery continuum of President Trump’s Great American Recovery nationwide initiative are so important to this work. We must support healthy development, prevent adverse childhood experiences and substance misuse, mitigate the effects of trauma, strengthen families and communities, reduce isolation, expand access to care, integrate care for mental health and addiction, and help people build stable lives marked by connection and purpose.

At SAMHSA, suicide prevention is among our most important commitments. In 2026, SAMHSA published six funding opportunities supporting Zero Suicide in health systems; adult suicide prevention; Garrett Lee Smith State/Tribal and Campus programs; Tribal behavioral health and suicide prevention; and behavioral health mobile crisis team partnerships. Together, these programs strengthen prevention, early intervention, crisis response, evidence-based care, and follow-up across the lifespan. These investments are just part of more than $1.3 billion in SAMHSA funding opportunities announced in 2026.

We are also working to strengthen the nation’s crisis care continuum. SAMHSA’s National Behavioral Health Crisis Care Guidance describes three foundational elements needed when someone is experiencing a behavioral health crisis: someone to contact, someone to respond, and a safe place for help. That means maintaining a reliable 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline, available mobile crisis response, accessible walk-in community-based crisis stabilization services, and effective connections to follow-up treatment and recovery support.

Four years after its launch, 988 continues to provide 24/7 services by phone, text and chat, and connects people seeking help with trained crisis counselors. Encouragingly, a recent JAMA study found that suicide mortality among youth and young adults was 11 percent lower than expected in the first two-and-a-half years after the launch of 988. As of today, 988 has received more than 26 million contacts.

But government programs and crisis services alone cannot prevent suicide. Prevention also happens in our homes, schools, workplaces, faith communities, neighborhoods, and everyday relationships. Every one of us can take action to prevent suicide. Reach out to someone today who may be struggling, listen without judgment, and ask directly about suicide when you are concerned. Help create time and distance from lethal means by practicing safe storage of medications and firearms and temporarily reducing access during periods of elevated risk. Help the person connect with 988 or professional care and continue checking in after the immediate crisis.

The Trump Administration stands with those who have survived suicide crises and are finding a path to healing and recovery. We remember those who died by suicide and support those grieving a suicide loss. And we recognize and thank the researchers, medical, behavioral health, and public health professionals, peers, advocates, faith leaders, and volunteers who engage in the lifesaving work of suicide prevention each day.

If you or someone you know is struggling or in crisis, call or text 988 or use the 988 Lifeline’s online chat at 988lifeline.org. To find mental health or substance use treatment, visit SAMHSA’s FindTreatment.gov locator or call 1-800-662-HELP (4357). If someone is in immediate danger or experiencing a medical emergency, call 911 or go to the nearest emergency department.

We have both the opportunity and the imperative to advance a transformative vision for behavioral health in America. As a nation, we can move from silence and isolation to compassion and human connection, and from responding only at the moment of crisis to building a culture of prevention, recovery, and hope. The work ahead will require collaboration, innovation, and resolve, but together we can build a healthier America where every person knows that they matter, that help is available, and that recovery is possible.

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