Resources for Suicide Prevention Month

September is Suicide Prevention Month, and University of Missouri Extension has compiled resources to help break down barriers to mental health services for Missourians.

For those in crisis

The 24-hour National Suicide & Crisis Lifeline provides free, confidential services. If you or someone you know is in crisis, call or text 988 or go to 988lifeline.org.

Free, confidential rural telehealth counseling by trusted professionals who understand agriculture is available. To request counseling, fill out the online form, email adpsc@missouri.edu or call 573-882-4677.

Programs

• Show-Me Strong Farm Families. To address mental health crises in rural areas, MU Extension has compiled resources for consumers and professionals.
• QPR Training. In this one-hour program, an MU Extension certified QPR Gatekeeper instructor helps participants recognize the warning signs for suicide and learn to intervene using the three-step QPR (Question, Persuade, Refer) method. Participants become certified QPR Gatekeepers.
• Taking Care of You can help you deal with the stress in your life. This research-based program focuses on positive psychology and mindfulness to provide strategies for dealing with life’s challenges that you can incorporate into your everyday life.
• Mental Health First Aid provides evidence-based training in the skills you need to reach out and provide initial support to someone who may be developing a mental health or substance use challenge and help connect them to the appropriate care.
• Recovery Friendly Workplace fosters a workplace cultures that promote employee safety, health and well-being through strategies that provide support for managers and employees, including reducing stigma and providing resources related to substance use disorders.
• Changing Our Mental and Emotional Trajectory (COMET) is a two-hour training for older youths and adults to support friends, family, acquaintances, colleagues and neighbors’ well-being.
• WeCanPROSPER Resilience Training teaches participants skills to increase their personal resilience so they can better respond to challenges in both their personal and professional lives.
• Engaged Neighbor Program. Knowing your neighbors can boost the local economy, improve mental health and reduce crime and isolation. For more than five years, MU Extension’s Engaged Neighbor Program has helped people make their neighborhoods clean, safe and friendly.
• Missouri AgrAbility helps farmers with disabilities and their families succeed. The program links MU and Lincoln University extension services with a nonprofit disability organization to provide practical education and on-the-farm assistance that promotes agricultural and rural independence.

Publications

• MU Extension & Partners: Mental Health Awareness Toolkit. Includes outreach ideas, talking points, customizable content for news releases and social media posts, and links to infographics, videos and articles.
• WorkWell Missouri Toolkit is a step-by-step guide for employers to use in assessing their worksite, identifying what types of programs to implement, implementing wellness programming and determining effectiveness.
• Stress Management and the Challenge of Balance. Learn to recognize stressors, apply strategies reduce stress and set priorities to create balance in your life.
• Farm and Ranch Family Stress and Depression. A checklist and guide for making referrals.
• Growing Stress on the Farm. The expanding economic and mental health disparities in rural Missouri.
• Recovery Friendly Workplace Toolkit. Contains information about creating a workplace that supports those in recovery from substance use disorders.

More resources

• Suicide prevention
• Coping with disaster or trauma
• Substance misuse prevention

News and articles

• 10 workplace mental health tips. MU Extension specialists provide some quick tips on lightening the load for yourself and your colleagues.
• Know the signs of stress. Physical and behavioral symptoms of stress.
• Harvesting grief. Family helps focus resources on rural communities’ mental health needs.
• Spring cleaning for the mind, body and spirit. Spring can be a great time to hit reset in multiple facets of life. Spring cleaning isn’t just for your home but also can be for your mind, body and spirit.
• Mindfulness: What it is and how it helps. Nine ways to incorporate mindfulness into your busy life.
• Mental health & self-care. Safeguard your mental health by incorporating self-care into your daily routines.