Welcome to Balancing Life's Issues the podcast! I'm your host Kai and today we are celebrating Mental Health Awareness Month which runs May 1st through 31st. 

And it comes at a time when suicide rates continue to increase. Suicide and suicidal behavior are influenced by negative conditions in which people live, play, work, and learn. It's deeply personal and it's not happening in a silo. It's happening right in front of us. 

We can all help prevent suicide. The 988 Lifeline provides 24/7, free and confidential support for people in distress, prevention and crisis resources for you or your loved ones, and best practices for professionals in the United States. 

So today we wanted to bring on Licensed Clinical Social Worker Tacha Fletcher to talk to us about how we reach out to a loved one and what to do if they are having thoughts of suicide. 

This is Balancing Life's Issues the Podcast. Got an idea for the show? Email kai@balancinglifesissues.com 

Sources for today’s show: 

https://www.cdc.gov/suicide/suicide-data-statistics.html 

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5178031/