Health Department joins National Suicide Prevention Lifeline

DUPAGE COUNTY—The DuPage County Health Department is pleased to announce that its Crisis Intervention Unit is joining the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline on Tuesday, May 1, 2012.

The Health Department is joining more than 120 crisis centers across the nation who provide services to callers who are in emotional distress or suicidal crisis.

The goals of the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline are to promote efficient access to assistance, reach more people nationwide at risk of suicide, and ensure high quality of service to callers to prevent more suicides.

The Health Department will begin taking calls on May 1 from persons who call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline (1-800-273-TALK) from the DuPage County area.

According to the Center for Disease Control, suicide is a leading cause of death for all ages in the United States. There are more than 30,000 deaths annually due to suicide. Suicide is the second leading cause of death in the age group of 25 to 34 years and the third leading cause of death in the age group of 15 to 24 years. Suicide impacts people of every age and it is a serious public health problem that can have long lasting effects on individuals, families and communities.

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