SPEAK – which stands for Suicide Prevention, Empowerment, Awareness and Knowledge – is a collaborative effort involving Huntsville Hospital, the Huntsville Hospital Foundation, local school systems, Wellstone Behavioral Health, Crisis Services of North Alabama and several other organizations that work with children.
The free SPEAK North Alabama app is now available. It is designed to help users easily access and recognize the signs of suicide in friends and family and get them the help they need, fast. It’s not a substitute for professional diagnosis and treatment, but rather a “first line of defense” that offers people some solid information and useful tools that they can use to help someone they love make it through a difficult time.
We believe that a willingness to talk about suicide and mental illness is the first step toward preventing future tragedies. The vast majority of youth suicides could be stopped if teens, parents, teachers and school counselors knew what to look for and where to turn for help. That is our goal with SPEAK – to bring these issues out of the closet so all of us can learn together how best to solve them.
Click here for the Android app Click here for the Apple app!