CONTENTS

About This Course

Table of Contents

1. The Nature and Scope of Suicide
2. Recognizing the Progressive Development of Suicide
3. Substance Abuse as a Major Contributor to Suicide
4. Suicide Across the Life Span
5. Special Populations and Suicide Risk
6. Prevention and Early Intervention for Suicide and Substance Abuse Problems

Supplements
References
Resources

Holding the Lifeline
A Guide to Suicide Prevention

Future Prospects

The average life expectancy in the United States has gone up by leaps and bounds with each generation. But medical advancements alone won't prolong lives. Unlike the diseases that plagued generations in the past before the advent of modern medicine, most suicidal behaviors are treatable. Yet left unchecked, suicidal behaviors will have a devastating impact on the future.

In its wake, suicide leaves billions of dollars in medical, economic, and social losses and incalculable costs to society as a whole for failing to address such a large-scale public health crisis.

Today's health crises, such as mental illness and suicide, require all of us, not just professionals, to take ownership of the problem and find solutions in prevention and treatment.

The good news is that the progress that is made--inroads in substance abuse prevention or changing the stigma attached to mental illness, for example--are cumulative and interrelated. The end result is something all members of the community can live with--healthy individuals and a healthy society.