There’s a new app made for doctors and other health professionals to help fight suicide, NBC News is reporting. Launched by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), Suicide Safe is available for iOS and Android devices, providing health care providers with questions to determine if a patient is at risk. Additionally, it also gives sample profiles of people at risk of suicide.
Simple, direct questions such as “Have you thought about killing yourself?” are effective and don’t put ideas into people’s heads. And they can help direct someone at risk for immediate help.
According to SAMHSA, nearly half of people who die from suicide have seen a health professional of some sort in the month before their deaths and there are ways to find out who might be at risk and help them. And this is where the new app comes into play.
Suicide is the 10th leading cause of death in the United States, and the second leading cause of death for teens and young adults.
Facebook has recently unveiled its own tools to help prevent suicides. These were developed in partnership with a number of mental health organizations, in addition to consulting with people who had lived experience with self-injury or suicide.