David Baxter PhD
Late Founder
VA Suicide Prevention Campaign Expands With On-Line Chat Service
On July 3, 2009, the Department of Veterans Affairs launched a pilot on-line Chat Service, in partnership with Lifeline. The Veterans Chat Service (operating 24 hours per day, 7 days per week) is located at the VA National Suicide Prevention Hotline.
Veterans Chat enables Veterans, their families and friends to go online where they can anonymously chat with a trained VA counselor. If the chats are determined to be a crisis, the counselor can take immediate steps to transfer the chatter to the VA Suicide Prevention Hotline, where further counseling and referral services are provided and crisis intervention steps can be taken.
The online feature is intended to reach out to all Veterans who may or may not be enrolled in the VA health care system and provide them with online access to the Suicide Prevention Lifeline and provides Veterans with an anonymous way to access VA’s suicide prevention services.
Veterans (and family members or friends) can access Veterans Chat through the Lifeline suicide prevention website.
Know the Signs
Watch for these key suicide warning signs, and provide the Lifeline number to anyone exhibiting them.
Suicide Risk Assessment Guide (pdf pocket card)
Outreach
On July 3, 2009, the Department of Veterans Affairs launched a pilot on-line Chat Service, in partnership with Lifeline. The Veterans Chat Service (operating 24 hours per day, 7 days per week) is located at the VA National Suicide Prevention Hotline.
Veterans Chat enables Veterans, their families and friends to go online where they can anonymously chat with a trained VA counselor. If the chats are determined to be a crisis, the counselor can take immediate steps to transfer the chatter to the VA Suicide Prevention Hotline, where further counseling and referral services are provided and crisis intervention steps can be taken.
The online feature is intended to reach out to all Veterans who may or may not be enrolled in the VA health care system and provide them with online access to the Suicide Prevention Lifeline and provides Veterans with an anonymous way to access VA’s suicide prevention services.
Veterans (and family members or friends) can access Veterans Chat through the Lifeline suicide prevention website.
Know the Signs
Watch for these key suicide warning signs, and provide the Lifeline number to anyone exhibiting them.
- Talking about wanting to hurt or kill oneself
- Trying to get pills, guns, or other ways to harm oneself
- Talking or writing about death, dying or suicide
- Hopelessness
- Rage, uncontrolled anger, seeking revenge
- Acting in a reckless or risky way
- Feeling trapped, like there is no way out
- Saying or feeling there's no reason for living.
Suicide Risk Assessment Guide (pdf pocket card)
Outreach
- This month, VA has expanded on an advertising campaign that debuted in the metropolitan Washington, D.C., area. The campaign is now active in 124 cities, with advertisements on local buses. The ads are designed to make veterans and their family members aware of the VA Suicide Prevention Lifeline 1-800-273-TALK (8255), which is available around-the-clock, seven days a week.
- VA also has been distributing brochures, wallet cards, bumper magnets, key chains and stress balls to veterans, their families and VA employees to promote awareness of the Lifeline number and educate its employees, the community and veterans about how to identify and help those who may be at risk. Contact a VA Suicide Prevention Coordinator for more information. To locate a Suicide Prevention Coordinator, use the Resource Locator.
