Creating a suicide prevention plan to distract, cope and reach out for support can save lives

Editor’s note: If you or someone you know may be considering suicide or is in crisis, call or text 988 to reach the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline.

Columbia University professor and director of suicide prevention training at New York State Psychiatric Institute Barbara Stanley died earlier this year at the age of 73. Stanley left behind a simple, but staggeringly effective interview to prevent suicides: having patients who had thoughts of self-harm create detailed “crisis plans” listing ways to cope, distract themselves and also who to reach out to for support.

The suicide prevention plans were meant as a short-term strategy for adolescents waiting for long-term therapy, but they proved so effective that they became important interventions on their own.

Among those who have implemented the plans with their patients is Dr. Paul Nestadt, a professor of psychiatry at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. He joins host Robin Young to discuss the Stanley-Brown Safety Planning intervention and why it works.

This article was originally published on WBUR.org. [Copyright 2023 NPR]