National Strategy for Suicide Prevention:
Goals and Objectives for Action

Acknowledgments:

This document was prepared by the Department of Health and Human Services under the direction of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, Center for Mental Health Services, and the Office of the Surgeon General; and through the partnership and collaboration of stakeholders in the public and private sectors. At the request of the Secretary, the Surgeon General provided essential leadership to coordinate the related efforts of the following agencies: The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, Center for Mental Health Services; Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Injury Prevention and Control; The National Institutes of Health, National Institute of Mental Health; the Health Resources and Services Administration, Maternal and Child Health Bureau; the Indian Health Service and the Public Health Service Regional Health Administrators. Public and private sector contributors are listed individually below.

VADM David Satcher, M.D., Ph.D., Surgeon General, Office of Public Health and Science, Washington, DC

RADM Arthur Lawrence, Ph.D., R.Ph., Assistant Surgeon General, USPHS, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Health (Operations), Office of Public Health and Science, Washington, DC

RADM Kenneth Moritsugu, M.D., M.P.H., Deputy Surgeon General, USPHS, Office of the Surgeon General, Washington, DC

Nicole Lurie, M.D., M.S.P.H., (Former) Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Health, Office of Public Health and Science, Office of the Secretary, Washington, DC

Beverly Malone, Ph.D., R.N., F.A.A.N., (Former) Deputy Assistant Secretary for Health, Office of Public Health and Science

Damon Thompson, Director of Communications, Office of Public Health and Science, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health, Washington, DC

Joseph H. Autry III, M.D., Acting Administrator, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, Rockville, Maryland

Bernard S. Arons, M.D., Director, Center for Mental Health Services, Rockville, Maryland

RADM Brian Flynn, Ed.D., Assistant Surgeon General, Director, Division of Program Development, Special Populations and Projects, Center for Mental Health Services, Rockville, Maryland

CAPT Norma J. Hatot, Senior Nurse Consultant, Center for Mental Health Services, Rockville, Maryland

Charlotte Gordon, Center for Mental Health Services, Rockville, Maryland

Jeffrey P. Koplan, M.D., M.P.H., Director, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia

Rodney Hammond, Ph.D., Director, Division of Violence Prevention, National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, Atlanta, Georgia

Ruth L. Kirschstein, M.D., Acting Director, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland.

Steven E. Hyman, M.D., Director, National Institute of Mental Health, Bethesda, Maryland.

Richard Nakamura, Ph.D., Deputy Director, National Institutes of Mental Health, Bethesda, Maryland

Claude Earl Fox, M.D., M.P.H., (Former) Administrator, Health Resources and Services Administration, Rockville, Maryland

Michael H. Trujillo, M.D., Ph.D., Assistant Surgeon General, Director, Indian Health Service, Rockville, Maryland

CDR Alex E. Crosby, M.D., M.P.H., (Contributing Writer) Medical Epidemiologist, Division of Violence Prevention, National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia

CDR Robert E. DeMartino, M.D., (Managing Editor and Science Writer) Program in Trauma and Terrorism, Center for Mental Health Services, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, Rockville, Maryland.

Marlene EchoHawk, Ph.D., (Science Reviewer) Health Science Administrator, Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Program, Indian Health Service, Rockville, Maryland.

Col David A. Litts, O.D., (Assistant Managing Editor and Contributing Writer), United States Air Force, Special Advisor, Office of the Surgeon General, Office of the Secretary, Washington, DC

CAPT Richard Lyons, M.D., (Science Reviewer) MS, Regional Health Administrator, Public Health Service, Region X, Seattle, Washington.

Jane Pearson, Ph.D., (Contributing Writer) Chair, NIMH Suicide Research Consortium, National Institute of Mental Health, Rockville, Maryland.

Margaret West, M.S.W., Ph.D., (Science Reviewer) Regional Program Consultant, Region X, Maternal and Child Health Bureau, Health Resources and Services Administration, Seattle, Washington.

Morton M. Silverman, M.D., Senior Scientific Editor and Writer, Associate Professor of Psychiatry, University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois

Martin J. Frankel, Copy Editor, Columbia, Maryland

A. Cate Miller, Copy Editor, Washington, D.C.

Lucy Davidson, M.D., Ed.S., Associate Director of Science, Center for Child Well-being, Atlanta, Georgia

Jean L. Athey, Ph.D., President, Health Policy Resources Group, Brookeville, Maryland

Jason Luoma, M.A., Graduate Student, The Catholic University of America, Washington, DC

Alan Berman, Ph.D., Executive Director, American Association of Suicidology, Washington DC

Mary Chung, B.S., CEO/President, National Asian Women's Health Organization, San Francisco, California

Bob Glover, Ph.D., Executive Director, National Association of State Mental Health Program Directors, Alexandria, Virginia

Veronica Vaccaro Goff, M.S., Vice President, Washington Business Group on Health, Washington, DC

Madelyn Gould, Ph.D., M.P.H., Professor, Psychiatry and Public Health (Epidemiology), Columbia University, New York Psychiatric Institute, New York, New York

Michael F. Hogan, Ph.D., Director, Ohio Department of Mental Health, Upper Arlington, Ohio

Thomas E. Lengyel, Ph.D., Director of Research & Evaluation Services, Alliance for Children & Families, Milwaukee, Wisconsin

Ian A. Shaffer, M.D., M.M.M., Chief Operating Officer, University Alliance for Behavioral Care, Inc., Reston, Virginia

Margaret Beale Spencer, Ph.D., Professor, Department of Psychology, University of Pennsylvania, Graduate School of Education, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Jerry Weyrauch, M.B.A., Founder, Suicide Prevention Advocacy Network (SPAN USA), Marietta, Georgia

Harvey Whiteford, M.D., University of Queensland, Twoowong, Brisbane, Australia

Glorisa Canino, Ph.D., Director, Behavioral Sciences Research Institute, University of Puerto Rico, Medical Sciences Campus, San Juan, Puerto Rico

Felton Earls, M.D., Project on Human Development in Chicago Neighborhoods, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts

Spero M. Manson, Ph.D., Director, Division of American Indian and Alaska Native Programs, University of Colorado Health Sciences Center, Denver, Colorado

John Gates, Ph.D. (Facilitator), Director of Programs, Collaborative Center for Child Well-Being, Decatur, Georgia

Administration on Aging

American Psychiatric Nurses Association, Washington, DC

Karen Abrams, Guidance Counselor, American School Counselors Association, Concord, New Hampshire

Maria T. Baldi, Public Health Advisor, Center for Mental Health Services, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, Rockville, Maryland

Nancy Bateman, LCSW-C, CAC, Senior Staff Associate, National Association of Social Workers, Washington, DC

David Cordts, Associate Director of Student Activities, National Association of Secondary School Principals, Reston, Virginia

Patricia Dunn, J.D., M.S.W., Director of Public Policy, Gay and Lesbian Medical Association, San Francisco, California

Arthur Elster, M.D., Director, Medicine and Public Health, American Medical Association, Chicago, Illinois

Stuart C. Hales, Director of Communications, Employee Assistance Professionals Association, Arlington, Virginia

Lindsay M. Hayes, Assistant Director, National Center on Institutions and Alternatives, Mansfield, Maine

Kathy Hogan-Bruen, Director of Prevention, National Mental Health Association, Alexandria, Virginia

Douglas Jacobs, M.D., Harvard University Medical School, Cambridge, Massachusetts

Kay Redfield Jamison, Ph.D., Professor of Psychiatry, The Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland

Larry Lehmann, M.D., Chief Consultant for Mental Health, Department of Veterans Affairs, Washington, DC

Robert J. McNellis, M.P.H., PA-C, Director Clinical Affairs and Education, American Academy of Physician Assistants, Alexandria, Virginia

William Modzeleski, Director, Safe and Drug-Free Schools Program, Department of Education, Washington, DC

Denis Nissim-Sabat, Ph.D., Senior Policy Analyst, American Psychological Association, Washington, DC

Judy Robinson, Ph.D. R.N., Executive Director, National Association of School Nurses, Castle Rock, Colorado

Holly Schumann, M.S.W., Presidential Management Intern, Administration on Aging, Office of the Secretary, Department of Health and Human Services, Washington, DC

Catherine Sutter, J.D., L.L.M., Senior Policy Analyst, Occupational Safety and Health Administration, Department of Labor, Washington, DC

Vicki Verdeyen, Ph.D., Psychology Administrator, Federal Bureau of Prisons, Department of Justice, Washington, DC

American Association for Suicidology, Washington, DC (www.suicidology.org)

American Foundation For Suicide Prevention, New York, New York (www.afsp.org)

Jason Foundation, (www.jasonfoundation.com)

Kristin Brooks Hope Center and the National Hopeline Network (1-800- SUICIDE), Purcellville, Virginia (www.hopeline.com or www.livewithdepression.org)

The Link's National Resource Center for Suicide Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia (www.thelink.org)

Million Mom March, San Francisco, California (www.millionmommarch.org)

National Organization of People for Color Against Suicide, San Marcos, Texas

Organization of Attempters and Survivors of Suicide in Interfaith Service (OASSIS), Washington, DC (www.oassis.org)

The Samaritans, Albany, New York Suicide Awareness\Voices of Education, Minneapolis, Minnesota (www.save.org)

Suicide Prevention Advocacy Network, Marietta, Georgia (www.spanusa.org)

American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Washington, DC American College of Emergency Physicians, Dallas, Texas

Ross J. Baldessarini, M.D., Professor of Psychiatry (Neuroscience), Harvard Medical School, Cambridge, Massachusetts

Virginia Trotter Betts, M.S.N., J.D., R.N. F.A.A.N.

Frederick K. Goodwin, M.D.

Lloyd Potter, Ph.D., Program Manager, Educational Development Center, Newton, Massachusetts

E. Cameron Ritchie, M.D., Program Director, Mental Health Policy and Women's Issues, Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense (Health Affairs), Washington DC

Educational Services, Inc., Washington, DC

Those who participated in the four public hearings on the Goals and Objectives

Those who provided comments through the Surgeon General's Web Site

The Air Force Medical Service

NSSP Homepage | Table of Contents | Previous | Next

Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

National Institutes of Health

Health Resources and Services Administration