Safety professionals are keenly aware of job-related injury and mortality data; however, many are not taking into consideration how mental well-being is playing a role in injuries and death. Nor has much attention been given to the impact of psychosocial hazards at work. For example, a November 16, 2018, study published by the Centers for …

Continue reading “Why Worker Resilience, Mental Health, and Suicide Prevention Matter to Safety and Risk Management Professionals”

Employee assistance programs (EAPs) may be one of the best-kept secrets for many employers. Instead, EAP resources should be widely publicized to help encourage participation by managers, employees, and their family members. Providing support services for employees’ personal and workplace problems that have the potential to negatively affect work can promote vibrant workers and mitigate …

Continue reading “Evaluating Employee Assistance Programs: 15 Questions Workplaces Should Ask to Strengthen the Mental Health Safety Net”

What if you ask someone if they are thinking about suicide, and they say, “yes”? What do you say? Here are four responses that can make a difference. Express gratitude The first words out of your mouth: “Thank you.” “Thank you for trusting me.” “Thank you for your courage to be vulnerable with me.” “Thank …

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For many people, apps are a part of our everyday living – from Uber, to conference schedules, to how we find our restaurants. They can also be part of our resilience toolkit. When we consider a comprehensive strategy to suicide prevention and mental health promotion, it’s helpful to segment approaches into “upstream” (preventing problems before …

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Employers need to reevaluate their relationship with the military and the profound disconnect that exists between the lip service of “Thank you for your service” and the actual tangible, material benefits we give to our Armed Forces and veterans. Acknowledgment The author would like to thank and acknowledge the contributions to this commentary by authors …

Continue reading “Want to Help Veterans’ Suicide Prevention? Hire Them.”

Whenever a celebrity dies by suicide, the world pays attention, and the suicide prevention community braces for impact. Why? We know that the media will often circulate unsafe messaging for days after the tragedies and that this will have a suicide exposure effect on many people who are already vulnerable to suicide. Recently, we lost …

Continue reading “Language Matters: Why We Don’t Say “Committed Suicide””

In 2017, a 15-year-old girl from Bedford, PA, was trying to live an ordinary teenage life until her classmates began bullying her. They attacked her on social media sites like Facebook and Kik about her red hair and braces, some going as far as telling her that she should kill herself. Her mother remembers finding …

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I grew up in a tight-knit neighborhood in a suburban town in Connecticut. When my family first moved in, there was a cul-de-sac at the end of our road, and all the kids used to ride bikes and play ball in the street. My parents lived there almost 40 years—and so did most of the …

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“You can’t fix your mental health with duct tape,” advises Dr. Richard Mahogany, a fictional therapist who is “manning up” mental health at www.ManTherapy.org. The following is according to Mental Health America. 1-in-5 men develop alcohol dependence in their lifetime. Men are four times more likely to die of suicide than women are. Over 6 million men …

Continue reading ““Man Therapy”: Engaging Men in Their Mental Health”

You may be wondering, “Seriously? How can we focus on being happy at this time? How is this related to risk management?” Despair seems to be everywhere. Natural disasters are devastating our country. Political strife and international tensions have people on edge. So many people feel overwhelmed. Happiness at work seems an elusive fantasy in …

Continue reading “Five Practices To Help You Find Happiness at Work”