Suicide Prevention

Call 988 in an Emergency

If you are feeling vulnerable or suicidal or are worried about someone, call 988, the national number for all mental health, substance use, and suicide crises. For more information on this lifeline, visit the Alabama Department of Mental Health.

Suicide Knows No Boundaries

It can affect any age group, ethnicity or race. It has nothing to do with your income or education. Suicide can become a tragedy for anyone.

In 2021 (the latest year for which national statistics are available), suicide was among the top 9 leading causes of death for people ages 10-64. Over 48,000 people died by suicide in 2021, averaging out to 1 death every 11 minutes. The suicide rate in Alabama in 2021 was 15.8 per 100,000. 

Visit the Center for Health Statistics for the latest data on suicide in Alabama.

Why Do People Become Suicidal?

Feeling suicidal can result from a variety of risk factors and personal conditions that combine to make a person feel hopeless and believe that it is impossible to change the situation. Help is available. Most people who attempt suicide but do not complete suicide are grateful that they did not die.

Major risk factors for suicidal behaviors include, but are not limited to:

• A history of depression, bipolar disorder, or other mental illness diagnoses
• A serious personal loss or number of losses and defeats taken personally
• Low self-esteem and self-loathing
• Social isolation
• Believing there is no hope for feeling better
• Chronic alcohol or other drug use
• Easy access to the means for dying, such as guns

Usually suicide is the result of a combination of these factors. Help is available, and you do not have to suffer emotional or psychological pain alone. Many people feel so despondent and hopeless that they believe the only thing that will end the pain is suicide. Suicide is a permanent act in response to what are often temporary problems. Please ask for help now.