Major public health problem:

• More than 34,500 Americans died by suicide in 2007 (AAS)
• There is 1 suicide every 15.2 minutes (AAS)
• 24% of the general population has considered suicide at some time in his/her life

Suicide is the:

• 11th leading cause of death overall in America (CDC)
  
• 3rd leading cause of death for young Americans between the ages of 10-24 (CDC)  
• 2nd leading cause of death for American college-aged students (Kochanek et al., 2002)

Suicides can be prevented:

• More than 60% of adolescents and 90% of adults who die by suicide have depression or another diagnosable mental or substance abuse disorder
  (Brent et al., 1999; Cavanaugh et al., 2003; Conner et al., 2007; Conwell et al., 1996; Fortune et al., 2007

Ignored and stigmatized topic:

• For every two people who die from homicides, three people die of suicide (Kochanek et al., 2002)
• There are more suicides globally than deaths from war and violence combined (WHO)

Save The Date

West Virginia Council for the Prevention of Suicide and the Adolescent Suicide Prevention and Early Intervention (ASPEN) Program are extremely proud to announce the 5th Bi-Annual Suicide Prevention Conference “Drugs, Alcohol, and Suicide Across the Life Span” March 28 - 29, 2012 Charleston Civic Center in Charleston, WV

Download the Conference Brochure and Registration Form

Contact Information:

Patrick Tenney
Suicide Prevention Coordinator
ptenney@valleyhealthcare.org

Lora Humphrey
Administrative Assistant
lhumphrey@valleyhealthcare.org

Valley HealthCare System
301 Scott Ave
Morgantown, WV 26508
304-296-1731