Welcome!
The International Association for Suicide Prevention (IASP) is dedicated to:
- preventing suicidal behaviour,
- alleviating its effects, and
- providing a forum for academics, mental health professionals, crisis workers, volunteers and suicide survivors.
Founded by the late Professor Erwin Ringel and Dr. Norman Farberow in 1960, IASP now includes professionals and volunteers from 77 countries. IASP is a Non-Governmental Organization concerned with suicide prevention.
If you are feeling suicidal or know of someone who needs help, browse Help to find a crisis center anywhere in the world.
Sign up for updates on World Suicide Prevention Day and the International Association for Suicide Prevention.
Upcoming IASP Events
"Gatekeepers 'open the gate' to help for people at risk of suicide"
The International Association for Suicide Prevention (IASP) provides gatekeeper training based on the premise that people at risk of suicide or self-harm often do not actively seek help, but that they can be identified through increased awareness of risk factors and warning signs. The term "gatekeeper" refers to individuals within health care and community services whose contact with potentially vulnerable populations provides an opportunity to identify at-risk individuals and direct them to appropriate assessment and treatment.
A Gatekeeper within a community may be an individual who works within health and community-based services who is in a position to identify people at risk of suicide by recognising risk factors for suicide. Early identification of suicide risk is crucial in order to prevent self-harm and is the starting point of suicide prevention.
Communities play a crucial role in suicide prevention. In all countries, particularly those with limited resources, the importance of communities and their support programmes in suicide prevention cannot be overstated. Social support within communities can help protect vulnerable persons from suicide by building and improving social connectedness and skills to cope with difficulties.
IASP's Gatekeeper Training, which began in 2013, together with our Train the Trainer initiative, are part of the foundation of IASP's community-based activities and are aimed at equipping individuals within health and community based services who may be able to identify people at risk of suicide by recognising risk factors for suicide. Gatekeeper training has taken place in Kenya, Namibia, Slovenia, Malaysia, South Korea and Japan.
IASP is currently running a crowdfunding campaign on GlobalGiving to initiate a comprehensive 2-year Gatekeeper Training Programme in Andhra Pradesh, India.
Please click here to go to the IASP Gatekeeper Training Web page.
Please click here to sign up for updates on World Suicide Prevention Day 2019, the International Association for Suicide Prevention and the IASP's Gatekeepers Training Program.
10 September, 2019
World Suicide Prevention Day
Working Together to Prevent Suicide
17 - 21 September, 2019
30th IASP World Congress
Breaking Down Walls and Building Bridges
Derry-Londonderry, Northern Ireland
View Non-IASP Upcoming Events.
Please note that the nominations for National Representatives are underway in the following countries and members are invited and encouraged to participate in this significant and democratic event:
Australia
Austria
Brazil
Colombia
Hong Kong
India
Israel
Italy
Japan
Malaysia
Mexico
Netherlands
United Kingdom
If you did not receive nomination papers, it may be due to the fact that the IASP Central Administrative Office has yet to receive payment for 2018 membership fees. If you have paid your membership fee and not received nomination papers, please contact the IASP Central Administrative Office as soon as possible, email: membership@iasp.info. A nomination paper will be sent to you immediately.
IASP provides awards for those who have contributed in a significant way to the furthering of the aims of the Association. Awards are presented at the IASP biennial conference. Visit the IASP Awards page to see nomination details and deadlines.
Briefing Statements
Click here to read IASP briefing statements on issues pertaing to suicide and suicide prevention.
News
Click here to download our World Suicide Prevention Day 2018 Report
Read to discover World Suicide Prevention Day 2018 statistics and to see reports from events across the globe, including the UK, Ireland, India. Kenya, France, Taiwan, Hong Kong and the Netherlands.
Click here to download our March 2019 News Bulletin
IASP president, Prof. Murad Khan, intoduces the first newsletter for 2019, reporting on the inaugural Australian Research Workshop on Suicide and Self-Harm, which took place in Brisbane in February. He notes attendees have reported an engaging and insightful event.
He discusses work being done on the first National Plan for Suicide Prevention in Pakistan, and the plans for a 2nd National Strategy on Suicide Prevention in Namibia.
Sharing details of the 3rd Caribbean Regional Symposium to be held in Trinidad from 2–4th May 2019, he states, "...The symposium promises to be a stimulating event, bringing together researchers, practitioners, helpline workers, programme planners, graduate students, those within the community and those affected by suicide, from a range of disciplines from within Trinidad & Tobago, the Caribbean Region, and around the world.
He also highlights the upcoming 30th World Congress of the International Association for Suicide Prevention, which will take place in Derry-Londonderry, Northern Ireland from 17-21st September 2019.
Learn more about the Australian Research Workshop on Suicide and Self-Harm which was carried out in collaboration with Griffith University, AISRAP.
Read about the launch of a National Study on prevalence and interventions related to suicide in Namibia took place in October 2018. At the launch, The Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Health and Social Services, Mr. Nangombe, discussed the extent of suicide and self-harm as public health issues in Namibia, informing the meeting that by 2011 Namibia had the eleventh (11th) highest suicide rate in the world and fourth (4th) highest in Africa.
Shares details of a public lecture entitled, "Suicide Prevention in International Context: Progress and Challenges," given by Prof. Ella Arensman in Namibia, at the invitation of the WHO to support the Ministry of Health and Social Services in drafting the 2nd National Strategy on Suicide Prevention for the country.
Learn that following a round table meeting that took place in December 2018 at the Meditrina Mental Health Resource Centre in Rawalpindi, Pakistan, a report detailing proposed strategies for a National Plan for Suicide Prevention was prepared by Dr. Asma Humayun and Prof. Murad Khan, with contributions from professionals in mental health, education, law, religion and media, amongst others throughout the country.
Reports that on 30th November 2018, Prof. Ella Arensman presented a Train-the-Trainer programme (TtT), together with Dr Vita Postuvan, on Increasing Awareness of Depression and Suicidal Behaviour at the University of Koper, Slovenia, for professionals working in health and community bases services, i.e. gatekeepers.
Read further about the 3rd Caribbean Regional Symposium in Trinidad from 2-4th 2019, the 30th World Congress of the International Association for Suicide Prevention to be held in Derry-Londonderry, Northern Ireland, from the 17th to the 21st of September 2019, and the 52nd American Association of Suicidology Annual Conference to be held April 24–27, 2019 in Denver Colorado.
Download the inaugural edition of Engage -the Early Career Group newsletter, that introduces this new and growing IASP group. Read to find information on upcoming conferences or to discover features and snapshot pieces from early career persons working in the area of suicidology.
World Suicide Prevention Day Products
WSPD Cycle Aound the Globe Buttons
