White House updates national suicide prevention strategy

washington — The White House on Tuesday unveiled an updated national strategy on suicide prevention that includes more emphasis on health equity and diversity and the mental-health impact of social media, revising its decade-old plan amid a national rise in suicide rates.

Second gentleman Doug Emhoff launched the new strategy at the White House, which he prefaced with words of comfort and encouragement.

"It's OK to talk about this, as tough as this topic is," he said. "So, that's why it's good that we're all here today together. It's important we do this, because as we all know, suicide affects everyone. Doesn't matter your age, race, gender or where you live. It impacts all of us."

The U.S. remains in a small clique of about 40 mostly high-income nations that have national plans to combat a menace that has left no society unscarred.

In a push for more countries to develop national strategies in 2018, the World Health Organization noted that "only a few countries in the low-income and middle-income categories have adopted a national suicide prevention strategy, even though 79% of suicides occur in these settings."

American health professionals told VOA a national plan is essential to tackling the problem. 

"The new national strategy focuses on a "whole of society" approach, which is unique —and critical — because no single entity alone can reduce suicide rates. But together, we have a real opportunity for impact," Hannah Wesolowski, chief advocacy officer of the National Alliance on Mental Illness, told VOA in an email.

Doctors who worked with the White House on the plan noted that not all its recommendations are strictly medical. Many are social and involve being more open about a matter that is often seen as taboo. 

"When it comes to a national strategy, you're actually looking to employ a multipronged approach," Dr. Christine Moutier, chief medical officer at the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, told VOA. "So, you would be looking to increase your mental health professional workforce that is culturally aligned with the population.

"But you'd also be looking to other things that low- and middle-income countries can do more readily, such as increasing interpersonal connectedness in schools and in workplaces — really these community-based approaches that have been found to be incredibly effective at reducing suicides. So, things like addressing loneliness, addressing interpersonal violence."

American actor Ashley Judd, who spoke at the White House on Tuesday, also stressed the importance of legitimizing mental illness. Her mother, musician Naomi Judd, committed suicide in 2022. 

"She won several Grammys, and she left country music better than she found it," Judd said of her mother, who was 76. "She also lived most of her life with an untreated and undiagnosed mental illness that lied to her and stole from her. And it stole from our family, and she deserved better."

Another issue the updated plan wrestled with is a uniquely American one. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 55% of American suicides are committed with firearms. 

"There is a very strong section on firearm suicide prevention in the national strategy," Moutier said, noting that the federal strategy mentions the important role of state-level red flag laws that would restrict firearms access for buyers who may harm themselves or others. 

The new strategy also emphasizes the value of "lived experience" — the validity of survivors' stories and those of their loved ones, who are scarred by the suicide. 

Musician Aloe Blacc spoke Tuesday of how he uses music to heal after the 2018 suicide of his close friend, Swedish electronica artist Tim Bergling – better known by his stage name, Avicii.

On the anniversary of his friend's death, Blacc recorded a version of his hit, "Wake Me Up."He also recorded a version he sang in Mandarin and Spanish. 

And on Tuesday, Blacc, sitting in the high-ceilinged, marble-walled room on the White House campus, burst into spontaneous song. His warm tenor filled the cavernous room as he sang a gospel standard, "This Little Light of Mine."

"Just remember," he said. "You are the light."

Blacc offered some simple advice to those who themselves may be struggling or know someone who is. 

"I want to encourage all of us here today and all of us watching to recognize the role that we can play, the positive role that we can play in someone else's life," he said. 

Or, as Wesolowski said, "The most important thing we can do is show up. ...The action of reaching out is more important than the words you say, and sometimes it can make all the difference."

The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention shared with VOA this list of international suicide hotlines.