September 6, 2022

Dear Psychiatrists for Gun Violence Prevention (P4GVP),

We hope you are all well and enjoying the end of summer (it's still summer for a few more weeks!). We wanted to acknowledge and remind you that September is Suicide Prevention Awareness Month, that this week is National Suicide Prevention Week, and that World Suicide Prevention Day is this Saturday, September 10, 2022. As you are all well aware, the majority of gun-related deaths in the United States are suicides, a fact which is often lost amidst understandable distress in the aftermath of mass shooting tragedies. The fact is, access to firearms is one of the leading risk factors for death by suicide, and it's up to psychiatrists and other mental health professionals to educate our patients, their loved ones, and the public. This is the perfect month to double down on our efforts to do so. The P4GVP website has a wealth of information and resources to help you, including on (but not limited to) its suicide-specific page: https://www.psychgvp.org/suicide.

Here's to a safe and healthy rest of summer.

In solidarity,

P4GVP Co-founders: Rebecca Capasso, Victoria Dinsell, Charles Lee, and Marc Manseau