(Albany, NY)- The New York State Office of Mental Health today announced that New York State will partner with The Huffington Post to educate the public, increase awareness, and provide help to those at-risk of suicide. The New York State Office of Mental Health (OMH) will join together with multiple advocacy organizations as part of The Huffington Post's #StrongerTogether initiative to share resources, professional connections, and information in an effort to help prevent suicides in New York, the United States, and worldwide.

"Suicide is one of the most preventable causes of death in New York and across the nation,” Dr. Ann Marie T. Sullivan, OMH Commissioner said. "We must recognize the warning signs that can lead to suicide, be it depression, substance abuse, or other mental disorders, and help prevent suicides before they occur. There is hope. We are stronger together and we can, and will, save lives." 

“Tragically, there is still a stigma surrounding mental illness, and this is a very costly silence,” said Arianna Huffington, President and Editor-in-Chief of The Huffington Post Media Group. “The Huffington Post and New York State are joining forces to put a spotlight on depression, mental illness and suicide, opening up the conversation on these issues and offering tools and resources to increase real connection and engage with those who may feel isolated and desperate.” 

New York State is the first State to partner with The Huffington Post on a public mental health campaign, with the goal of helping as many people as possible learn about suicide prevention. On September 17, 2014, from 3PM to 4PM EST, OMH and The Huffington Post will host a live chat on Twitter to answer questions about suicide prevention, using the hashtag #StrongerTogether. 

Since mid-August, The Huffington Post has been telling the stories of those affected by depression, suicide and other mental health challenges as part of their #StrongerTogether project. 

Starting September 10, which is National Suicide Prevention Day, multimedia posts that specifically target suicide prevention will be available on the #StrongerTogether site: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/news/stronger-together/. 

The partnership will also feature interviews with all of the #StrongerTogether contributors on HuffPost Live, http://live.huffingtonpost.com/, in the coming days.  

In addition to OMH and Huffington Post leadership, contributors to this campaign include representatives from nationally and internationally respected suicide prevention advocacy organizations, including:

• The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline/Mental Health Association of NYC, on what individuals across the country can do to prevent suicide and highlighting resources.
• The Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, on Veteran suicide prevention.
• The Jed Foundation, on preventing suicide in younger adults.
• The Mental Health Association of New York State, on understanding mental illness and the important role of community in preventing suicide. 

You are also encouraged to download OMH’s Suicide Prevention Initiative’s free “Safety Plan” and “Safety Net” apps for iOS and Android, respectively, designed to provide individuals with an emergency plan and prevention resources for suicide crises. Safety planning has been established as an effective strategy in the prevention of suicide. 

These free applications help individuals identify suicide warning signs, create coping strategies, identify positive contacts and social settings to distract from the crisis, identify family members and friends available to help, find professional help and resources, and make their environment safe from lethal means that may be used in a suicide attempt. These apps were developed by the OMH, in partnership with its New York State Psychiatric Institute, its Suicide Prevention Initiative, and the Research Foundation for Mental Hygiene, Inc. 

OMH’s Suicide Prevention Office funds a number of programs as part of its Suicide Prevention Initiative, including the Suicide Prevention Center of New York, a one-stop resource, training, and outreach organization. The Suicide Prevention Center offers various free suicide prevention trainings to New York residents. Information on upcoming trainings is available here: http://www.preventsuicideny.org/. 

New York State is a part of the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline Program, giving individuals at-risk someone to talk to, 24 hours a day/7 days a week. http://www.suicidepreventionlifeline.org/ or 1-800-273-TALK.

In addition there is a toll-free crisis hotline in each county of New York.

 Statewide and National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 800-273-TALK (8255) and TTY: 800-799-4889

 Suicide Crisis Telephone Numbers for New York State by County:

The media can have a powerful role in educating the public about suicide prevention. A resource for suggested media guidelines for reporting on suicide can be found here: http://www.sprc.org/sites/sprc.org/files/library/sreporting.pdf

About The Huffington Post 

The Huffington Post is a Pulitzer Prize-winning source of breaking news, features, and entertainment, as well as a highly engaged community for opinion and conversation. The Huffington Post has 97.5 million U.S. multiplatform unique visitors per month (comScore, June 2014). The site has over 80,000 bloggers -- from politicians, students and celebrities to academics, parents and policy experts -- who contribute in real-time on the subjects they are most passionate about. The Huffington Post has editions in the UK, Canada, France, Spain, Italy, Japan, Maghreb, Germany, Brazil and South Korea. The Huffington Post is part of AOL Inc. (NYSE: AOL).