Suicide Prevention

There is often not a single cause of suicide. For many people, it results from multiple stressors and health issues. Learn the warning signs, and if you or someone you know may be at risk of suicide, get help immediately. 

Call or text 988

Many people who die by suicide show one or more warning signs, often through what they say or do.  

What they might say:  

• They want to die  
• They feel like a burden to others.    
• They feel deep guilt or shame.  
• What they might feel: FEELING:  
• Empty, hopeless, trapped or having no reason to live  
• Extremely sad, more anxious, agitated, or full of rage  
• Emotional or physical pain that feels unbearable.  

What they might do:

• Make a plan or research ways to die  
• Pull away  from friends, say goodbye, give away important items, or write a will  
• Take dangerous risks such as driving very  fast
• Show extreme mood swings  
• Eat or sleep more or less than usual
• Use drugs or alcohol more often 

If someone you know is having a hard time, you can be the difference in getting them the help they need. It can be scary when a friend or loved one is thinking about suicide. It's hard to know how a suicidal crisis feels and how to act. You can help by getting help.  

#BeThe1 promotes five action steps to help you support someone who may be thinking of suicide.  

1. Ask directly if the person is thinking about suicide, then listen to the answer without judgment. If someone says they are thinking about killing themselves, get help by dialing 988 or 9-1-1.  
2. Keep them safe by removing their access to lethal or harmful items, such as medications, poisons, and firearms, from the home.
3.  Be there. Be present for them by making an emotional connection and letting them know you care.
4. Help them connect to support. Make sure they have hotline numbers and other resources programmed into their phone or written somewhere they can easily find them.
5. Follow up with texts, calls, or face-to-face visits to provide ongoing support.

Many things can reduce the risk of suicide. These are personal or environmental characteristics that help protect people from suicide. Some protective factors include:  

Individual Protective Factors

• Effective coping and problem-solving skills
• Reasons for living (for example, family, friends, pets, etc.)
• Strong sense of cultural identity  

Relationship  Factors

• Support from partners, friends, and family
• Feeling connected to others

Community Factors

• Feeling connected to school, community, and other social institutions
• Availability of consistent and high-quality physical and behavioral healthcare  

Societal  Factors

• Reduced access to lethal means of suicide among people at risk
• Cultural, religious, or moral objections to suicide
• Learn more about Risk and Protective Factors 

Risk Factors are things that can raise a person's chance of suicide. They come from a person's life, relationships, community, and society. Having a risk factor doesn't mean someone will attempt suicide, but it does raise the chance.

• Stressful life events or crises, such as job loss, relationship trouble and major life transitions  
• Discrimination or stress based on race or ethnicity
• Access to lethal means (including firearms and medications)
• Feeling alone or cut off from others.
• Living through a traumatic event
• Adverse childhood experiences
• Alcohol or drug use  
• Mental health disorders and conditions, such as depression or anxiety
• Chronic health conditions, including pain and traumatic brain injury
• Not being able to get mental health care
• Knowing someone who died by suicide, particularly a family member
• Significant dates, such as anniversaries of a loved ones’ death or birth  

Risk factors differ by group. Some examples:  

• Stress from prejudice and discrimination (family rejection, bullying, violence) is a known risk factor for suicide attempts among lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender youth.  
• Family conflict, acculturation, hopelessness, racism, and discrimination are among the most significant risk factors in Black populations  
• Alcohol, mental health services access and use, alienation, and acculturation are among the most significant risk factors for Hispanic/Latinx populations.  
• Stigma surrounding mental illness and help-seeking behavior, familial expectations, underdiagnosed mental health conditions, and family conflict are among the identified risk factors for Asian American populations.
• For middle-aged men, life stressors that challenge traditional male roles, such as unemployment and divorce, have been identified as risk factors.
• People experiencing poverty, especially in rural areas, are at risk due to increased life stressors and lack of access to adequate and affordable behavioral health care.
• Older adults and youth experience higher levels of social isolation.
• First responders (including EMS, fire, law enforcement, and emergency dispatchers) and military veterans have stressors, including exposure to traumatic events such as death by suicide, higher rates of post-traumatic stress, the stigma associated with seeking help and increased access to lethal means. 

Secure storage of firearms in the home is important for preventing injuries and deaths. According to the 2023 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS), 40% of Vermont households store at least one firearm in or around the home. Of those households, 10% report storing at least one firearm unlocked and loaded. Research shows that the presence of firearms in the home is associated with an increased risk of dying by suicide. This risk is higher when firearms are not stored safely.  

In Vermont:

• Most (69%) firearm injuries are accidental. Others are due to attempted homicides or assaults (20%), and some (7%) are a result of suicide attempts or intentional self-harm.
• Most (90%) firearm deaths are due to suicide. This is followed by homicides (5%), and accidents (1%).
• From 2024 to 2025, there was a 43% increase in firearm-involved suicide deaths

Most firearm owners in Vermont appear to store their firearms safely. However, during a suicide or mental health crisis, firearm owners can access additional options available for temporarily storing potentially dangerous things, like firearms or medicines.

Talk with your children about firearm safety. Be sure that they know to stay away from firearms in a friend’s home or elsewhere and to tell a trusted adult if they see or find a firearm.

Talk with the parents of your children’s friends. Find out if they have firearms in their homes. If they do, ask that they keep them unloaded, locked up, and out of children’s reach.

Additional Firearm Safety Resources

• The Harvard School of Public Health's Means Matter: Suicide, Guns, and Public Health page
• Suicide Prevention Resource Center's Reduce Access to Means of Suicide page
• CALM: Counseling on Access to Lethal Means Training for Clinicians
• Learn more about firearm safety from the Health Department.

The words we use to talk about suicide matter.  

Asking someone if they are thinking of suicide will not plant the idea in their mind. Listening to someone can help save a life. For help in talking to someone about suicide, contact the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline.

Media reporting on suicide can positively or negatively affect the community, especially after a suicide death. For best practices on responsible reporting on suicide, the Action Alliance has created a Framework for Successful Messaging on Suicide Prevention. 

Wondering how to talk to others about suicide after a death in your community? Find guidance from the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention.

See guidance from the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention.

Postvention means the steps taken to support healing and reduce risk after someone dies by suicide. A suicide death can affect those beyond the immediate loss survivors and ripple outward, impacting the entire community. After a death, it is vital to implement programs that increase hope and resilience.  

• The Survivors of Suicide VT Resource Packet is immediately available to survivors of suicide loss through the Office of Medical Examiners. It lists local and national resources, including local support groups. 
• The National Suicide Prevention Resource Center has resources for Immediate and Long-Term support following a suicide. 

Data helps guide Vermont's suicide prevention work. Studying trends in suicidal thoughts, attempts, and deaths helps experts focus on the groups most at risk.

Visit our Injury Data page for all data briefs and reports about suicide and self-harm injury in Vermont. 

The Health Department also uses performance scorecards to measure progress and understand the impact of Vermont's suicide prevention efforts. The scorecards help track key measures over time and show how we're working to promote mental health, prevent suicide, and reduce self-harm.