Celebrating Suicide Prevention Month (Recap)
September is Suicide Prevention Awareness Month and Sept. 6-12 was National Suicide Prevention Week with Sept. 10th being World Suicide Prevention Day. Voices for Prevention believes in the importance of suicide prevention and was proud of the activities and resources provided to the public during Suicide Prevention Month. For the entire month of September we created weekly themes to celebrate suicide prevention. We celebrated prevention through self-care, art, storytelling, youth focused activities, and highlighted organizations working in prevention.
look back at our weekly Suicide Prevention Month themes, please check out http://v4pga.org/suicideprevention/. We also held webinars and movie screenings focusing on suicide prevention. The two movie screenings we held were for The S Word by Lisa Klein and Suicide: The Ripple Effect by Kevin Hines.
During Suicide Prevention Month, V4P released a Suicide Prevention Toolkit filled with resources and information to build awareness for suicide prevention within the community. To read our Suicide Prevention Toolkit please click the link, https://v4pga.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/suicide_prevention_month_toolkit.pdf.
Juan and Marco Borrego | September 28, 2020
When we started high school, our mom was not really aware of vaping and many of her friends and colleagues were under the impression that it was just flavored water vapor. Adults were oblivious, e-cigarette companies took advantage, and teens are paying the price. This epidemic started without warning because the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) was not regulating vaping and adults/parents were not paying attention, which allowed these companies to lure in teens. Now, millions of teens are getting abnormally high doses of nicotine, a drug as addictive as heroin and cocaine as per the American Heart Association.
Teens are still developing, and because of this, they can easily become addicted. Nicotine affects developing brains—it changes their chemistry and can create addicts for life.
ASFP | Sep 11, 2020
Last March, the coronavirus uprooted the education experience of high school and college students across the U.S., detrimentally impacting their mental health. According to Chegg.org’s research, titled “COVID-19 and Mental Health: How American’s college and high school students are coping during the pandemic,” more than half of students surveyed this August (58% college, 53% high school) said they were “moderately,” “very” or “extremely” worried about their mental health.
SAMHSA | September 11, 2020
Today the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration released the 2019 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH). The annual survey is the nation’s primary resource for data on mental health and substance use among Americans.
BEGINNERS’ ADVOCACY TOOLKIT FOR
ADULTS & YOUTH
V4P has created a BEGINNERS’ ADVOCACY TOOLKIT FOR ADULTS & YOUTH which will be available on the V4P website as of September 30. The Toolkit was featured during a webinar narrated by Dr. Gregg Raduka and Ms. Shannon Lawson on September 11. The webinar will also be made available on the V4P website in October. This Toolkit has been designed for adults and youth who are relatively new to advocacy. The Toolkit presents the What, Why, Who, and How of educating (not lobbying) policy makers regarding the substance abuse or suicide prevention issues that matter to you the most. It provides guidance on how Youth Advisors can help young people empower themselves to advocate as well as a section written directly to and for the youth advocates themselves. For access to the Toolkit, visit v4pga.org beginning in October.
V4P Free Membership
To become a member with V4P is free. Membership includes exclusive webinars, networking opportunities, and much more. You can also be involved with V4P events via our social media accounts. Our social media handle on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook is V4PGA. So, click that follow button and be a part of the V4PGA experience!
Resiliency and Wellness Toolkit Launch:
On Sept. 21st, V4P hosted a Facebook live launch in partnership with DBHDD’s Office of Behavioral Health Prevention and Federal Grants The Resiliency & Wellness Toolkit provides resources for students, parents, and educators. The purpose of this toolkit is to supply wellness resources and tips during this unprecedented time. The launch consisted of special guest speakers that provided wellness tips and resources. To see this amazing toolkit please click the button below
UPCOMING EVENTS
- October | National Substance Abuse Prevention Month
- October | National Bullying Prevention Month
- OCT 21 | Suicide Prevention Stakeholder Call at 2pm
Share with V4P
Our readers come to V4P to hear and learn what is happening in the world of suicide prevention and substance abuse prevention. We strive to gain as much information as possible to share with V4P members and others across the state because knowledge is power.
V4P wants to hear from you! We invite you to let us know if you are having any future advocacy events, whether it’s a webinar or virtual event that is open to the public that you would like to share. We call on our youth to send in articles and input for ways we can advocate for suicide prevention and substance abuse prevention. If you know of any Office of Behavioral Health Prevention and Federal Grants (OBHPFG) provider activity updates for the state of Georgia, please share them. We encourage all members to let us know if you have any accomplishments of individual members and member organizations that you would like to announce. Click the link below to share and we look forward to hearing from you