American Foundation for Suicide Prevention

In 1987, a number of leading experts on suicide came together with business and community leaders and survivors of suicide to form AFSP, a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. They believed that only a combined effort would make it possible to fund the research necessary for progress in the prevention of suicide. Such an approach has proven successful with heart disease, cancer and diabetes and it was hoped that it would be successful in dealing with depression and suicide.
Many of their original founders were concerned with the alarming rise in youth suicide over the past four decades. During this period, the suicide of young men had tripled; that of young women had doubled. Suicide is now the second major cause of death among high school and college students.
Suicide is even more frequent among older people. The highest rates are found in men over 50. Before the AFSP was formed, there was no national not-for-profit organization dedicated to funding the research, education and treatment programs necessary to prevent suicide. Over the past 20 years, they have changed that.

Mission: The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP) is the leading national not-for-profit organization exclusively dedicated to understanding and preventing suicide through research, education and advocacy, and to reaching out to people with mental disorders and those impacted by suicide.
To fully achieve its mission, AFSP engages in the following Five Core Strategies:

• Funds scientific research
• Offers educational programs for professionals
• Educates the public about mood disorders and suicide prevention
• Promotes policies and legislation that impact suicide and prevention
• Provides programs and resources for survivors of suicide loss and people at risk, and involves them in the work of the Foundation

AFSP Educational Activities: AFSP is increasing awareness about prevention, warning signs and the psychiatric illnesses most often responsible for suicide. This vital information has been disseminated to community groups, educators, parents, students and concerned individuals. AFSP has also expanded its efforts to disseminate the latest advances in suicide prevention research and to reduce the stigma associated with suicide. AFSP's projects educate physicians, mental health professionals, gatekeepers and the media to help them better understand, identify and bring to treatment depressed and suicidal individuals.

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