Facebook Provides First-of-Its-Kind Service to Help Prevent Suicides

In partnership with the National Action Alliance for Suicide Prevention, Facebook has announced a new service attempting to prevent suicides across North America. The service enables Facebook users to report a suicidal comment posted by a friend using either the Report Suicidal Content link https://www.facebook.com/help/contact.php?show_form=suicidal_content or the links found throughout the site.

The poster of the comment will immediately receive an e-mail from Facebook encouraging them to call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline http://www.suicidepreventionlifeline.org at 1-800-273-TALK (8255) or to click on a link to begin a confidential chat with a crisis worker. The project is a collaboration among the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline and Facebook.

In another story, a new survey by University of Washington researchers has found that, while about one of nine youths attempt suicide by the time they graduate from high school, nearly 40 percent of those who said they had tried suicide reported their first attempt was before they entered high school. The study was published in the November issue of the Journal of Adolescent Health http://jahonline.org/article/S1054-139X(11)00127-3/abstract.

Sources: http://www.samhsa.gov/newsroom/advisories/1112125820.aspx
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/news/fullstory_119226.html

Reposted at http://www.keystothecloset.com

Feb February Raises Funds for Trevor Project

The Trevor Project is celebrating "Fab February" with gay social networking site Fab.com. For every new member to sign up, Fab will donate $1 the It Gets Better Project, The Trevor Project and GLSEN. Here are five easy ways you can help:

1.   Join Fab.com.  It's free to register and $1 will instantly be donated the second you join.    

 

2.     Click to Tweet about your donation.

3.     Tell your Facebook friends about your donation.

4.     Invite 5 Facebook friends to join fab.com to raise an additional $5.     

5.     Watch and share the fab.com team's It Gets Better video . The more people who watch it, the more money we can raise together!

"Fab is not only a social connector to gay-friendly people, places and activities anywhere in the world, but a safe place for members to share their personal struggles and concerns over gay issues," said Fab founder and CEO Jason Goldberg. "The outpouring of grief on the site when so many gay suicides were reported last year spurred us to want to contribute to strengthening the gay self-image, and that's how 'Fab February' was born."