Suicide Prevention Awareness Month – Making a supportive and caring neighborhood

September 5, 2025September 5, 2025

September is Suicide Prevention Awareness Month – a time for communities throughout the nation to honor these impacted by suicide, elevate consciousness about prevention, interact in advocacy and promote psychological well being assets. At Clemson University, this month serves as a possibility to highlight Tigers Together, Clemson’s complete strategy to suicide prevention, and to remind college students of the assist obtainable. Whether you’re navigating stress, anxiousness or involved a couple of buddy, assets are right here that can assist you care for your psychological well-being and get assist when it’s wanted most.

Tigers Together strives to reinforce the security and well-being of Clemson college students. The goal of the initiative is to stop suicide by reducing threat elements, enhancing protecting elements, facilitating advocacy trainings, lowering stigma and creating an total neighborhood of caring. Tigers Together conveys the shared duty of all members of the University neighborhood to domesticate a secure and nurturing surroundings for each other.

College years are characterised by a number of transitions, and stress is a standard and anticipated response to these transitions. Sometimes stress might be managed with fundamental self-care expertise, like connecting along with your friends or participating in actions. There are different occasions when the stress can really feel overwhelming, and we want skilled assist to manage successfully with emotional misery.

The 2022 National College Health Assessment revealed that 28.4% of Clemson college students report having been identified with anxiousness and 20.6% identified with melancholy. Just as bodily well being varies amongst people, so does psychological well being. Some might by no means require remedy, whereas others discover it indispensable. The key lies in recognizing that wherever you fall on this continuum, your psychological well being is important and deserves consideration.

While actions like taking a stroll outdoors or connecting with fellow college students might be profoundly helpful, there are additionally quite a few on-campus assets obtainable to assist your holistic well-being:

Engaging in campus life is a proactive step for safeguarding your psychological well-being. As September unfolds, contemplate taking an lively position within the University’s efforts to stop suicide:

• Attend a number of of Clemson Undergraduate Student Government’s Suicide Prevention and Awareness Week occasions going down September 22-26. Follow @mycusg and @clemsonhealthycampus on Instagram to see particulars, dates and occasions.

• Take the Well-Being and Safety Resources course in Canvas to find ideas, instruments and assist for enhancing your well-being. To entry, click on the Help icon from the menu and choose Well-Being and Safety Resources to view and add the course to your dashboard.

• Read the Chief Well-being Officer’s September weblog about September well-being initiatives and constructing a tradition the place each Tiger is seen, secure and supported.

There are actions you may take to stop suicide. 

Recognize Warning Signs:

These warning indicators might imply somebody is in danger for suicide. Risk is bigger if a conduct is new or has elevated, and if it appears associated to a painful occasion, loss or change.

• Talking about feeling hopeless or having no purpose to stay.
• Talking about feeling trapped or in insufferable ache.
• Talking about eager to die or to kill oneself.
• Talking about being a burden to others.
• Increasing using alcohol or medication.
• Withdrawing or feeling remoted.
• Looking for a option to kill oneself, akin to looking out on-line or shopping for a gun.
• Having entry to self-destructive means.
• Acting anxious or agitated; behaving recklessly.
• Sleeping too little or an excessive amount of.
• Showing rage or speaking about searching for revenge.
• Displaying excessive temper swings.

What to Do:

• Take the warning indicators severely. Do not ignore the indicators in hopes they are going to go away.

• Reach out. Show your concern. Don’t fear about saying the improper factor. Your real concern is what’s vital.
• Ask if the particular person is considering suicide. Be direct. Be persistent and delicate to solicit a solution.
• Convey hope to the one that is struggling. Hope is the perfect protection in opposition to suicide.
• Listen and settle for the particular person’s emotions calmly and with out judgment.
• Do not act shocked or argue with the particular person.
• Don’t be sworn to secrecy.
• Know the resources at Clemson University and in our neighborhood.

Available Resources:

• National Suicide and Crisis Lifeline: If you or somebody you realize is in rapid disaster, name or textual content 988 for twenty-four/7 confidential assist.
• Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS): CAPS presents counseling companies to college students who could also be combating psychological well being considerations. Reach out to CAPS for a secure and supportive surroundings to debate your challenges. You can name 864-656-2451 to arrange an appointment throughout enterprise hours or press 2 from the choice menu to be related with a counselor after hours.
• CARE Network: If you might be involved a couple of fellow scholar’s well-being however aren’t positive the way to assist, contemplate submitting a CARE Network referral kind. While this isn’t for emergencies, this referral will provoke the University’s assist community to succeed in out to the person in query and join them to assets.
• Tigers Together Suicide Prevention Website: The Tigers Together web site contains assets and different useful data associated to psychological well being and suicide prevention.

Tigers Together is not only a slogan, however a testomony to Clemson’s dedication to the psychological well being and well-being of each particular person within the University neighborhood. By understanding the continuum of psychological well being, using on-campus assets, taking part in consciousness occasions and recognizing warning indicators, we are able to create a supportive and caring neighborhood that stands united in opposition to suicide. Together, we are able to make a distinction within the lives of fellow Tigers.