Risk Factors

• Previous suicide attempts
• Close family member who has committed suicide
• Past psychiatric hospitalization
• Recent loss
• - Death of family member or friend
• - Family divorce/seperation
• - Break-up with girlfriend/boyfriend
• Poor social skills
• - Difficulty interacting with others
• - Problems starting a conversation and making friends
• Drug or alcohol abuse
• - Drug decrease impulse control making impulsive suicide more likely
• - Some try to self-medicate with drugs or alcohol
• Vilence in the home or social environment
• Handguns in the home
• Work-related problems
• Serious medical problems
• Poor school performance

Warning signs that an adult needs help

• Noticeable changes in eating and sleeping habits
• Talking or hinting about suicide
• Obsession with death(e.g., in music, poetry, artwork)
• Irritability
• Alcohol and/or drug use or abuse
• Isolation
• Giving away possessions/suddenly making a will
• Feeling sad, depressed, or hopeless
• Finalizing personal affairs
• Coworkers, family, friends are concerned

Warning signs that a child needs help

• Noticeable changes in eating and sleeping habits
• Unexplained, or unusually severe, violent or rebellious behavior
• Running away
• Unusual neglect in appearance
• Drastic mood swings
• Hostile toward other children
• Withdrawl from peers
• Gives away possessions
• Feeling sad or depressed
• Obsession with death(e.g., in music, poetry, artwork)
• Physical complaints that are not real
• Talks about death
• Your child's teacher or other trusted adult tells you that your child is acting different and may need help

How to be an ACE

Ask

• Ask the question directly and stay calm, e.g.,
• "Are you thinking of killing yourself?"
• "Do you want to die?"
• "Do you wish you were dead?"
• "Have you thought of how you could kill yourself?"
• Talk openly about suicide. Be willing to listen and allow the person to express feelings

Care

• Care for the person. He or she may be in pain
• Remove any means that could be used for self-injury
• Active listening may produce relief. Calmly control the situation; do not use force
• Encourage the person to seek help
• Reassure the Family member that he or she will be helped and will feel better

Escourt

• Never leave your Family member or friend alone
• Escort to the emergency room, primary care provider, or behavioral health professional
• Adopt an attitude that you are going to help your Family member or friend; this will save his or her life

Shoulder to Shoulder Video (16:19)

Emergency Numbers

* These numbers are reachable 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Resource Numbers

Useful Links

• American Association for Suicidology
• Army Behavioral Health
• Army Center for Health Promotion and Prevention Medicine (CHPPM)
• AKO Suicide Prevention Resources
• Army National Guard "Virtual Armory"
• Deputy Chief of Staff, G-1, Suicide Prevention Website
• Health Care - Veterans Affairs
• Family Readiness Groups (FRG)
• Military OneSource (MOS)
• Military Welfare and Recreation
• National Institute of Mental Health
• Naitonal Strategy for Suicide Prevention
• National Youth Violence Prevention Resource Center
• US Office of Personnel Management (OPM)
• Suicide Prevention Action Network (SPAN)
• Suicide Prevention Lifeline
• Sucide Awareness Voices of Education
• Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors (TAPS)
• U.S. Army Public Health Command (Provisional)
• U.S. Army Chaplains