September is National Suicide
 Prevention Awareness Month
Across the country, more people than ever are struggling with mental health right now. That makes this year’s National Suicide Prevention Awareness Month especially poignant for prevention specialists. The National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) has put together a toolkit of resources to help everyone learn how to navigate this difficult topic.

Find out how you can get involved and ways you can promote awareness of National Suicide Prevention Month in your community.
Understanding the Impact of COVID-19 on
Mental Health and SUDs
The COVID-19 pandemic has had a shocking impact on the number of people who have turned to substance use to cope. Even more shocking has been the disproportionate rate at which the increase of substance use has impacted communities of color. This Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report explores the effects the COVID-19 pandemic has had on mental health trends, substance use proclivity, and suicidal ideation in communities across the United States.

Read the report from the CDC to learn more about the state of mental health, substance use, and suicidal ideation during the COVID-19 pandemic, and how these trends impact our mission as prevention specialists.
Identity and Connection Start With Language
Connecting with different communities plays a big part in the effectiveness of prevention strategies. One way to improve these connections is through the intentional application of inclusive language. That means language that is more inclusive from both a social and cultural perspective. Based on the ideals of egalitarianism, the goal of inclusive language is to avoid the use of outdated, biased, and prejudiced terminology that may offend or disparage individuals and groups of people.

Examples of this include the growing acceptance of “they” as a singular pronoun, as well as using the non-gendered term “Latinx” to describe people of Latin-American descent and background. Learn more about inclusive language and why you should incorporate it into your daily vernacular and prevention strategies!
What Preventionists Need to Know About Youth Opioid Addiction
Even during a pandemic, we cannot forget about the ongoing opioid epidemic impacting areas throughout the United States. Research shows that this epidemic disproportionately affects young people and their families.

Dr. Marc Fishman, an addiction psychiatrist and member of the psychiatry faculty at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, joined us earlier this year to discuss substance use disorders affecting young people, strategies for prevention, and how we can involve families in the prevention and recovery process.

Watch the webinar on our YouTube channel today to learn more!
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