September wraps South Texas in the colors of hope and healing. For working adults across San Antonio, Corpus Christi, and the Rio Grande Valley, the season change can also bring pressure: back-to-school schedules, hurricane-season stress, and the quiet weight some carry all year. This month is a reminder that connection saves lives.
Suicide prevention is a public health responsibility, and it belongs to all of us. This guide walks through what to look for, how to ask, and where to turn. If you or someone you love is struggling, please know that help is close by and available 24/7.
Changing the Narrative on Suicide
The International Association for Suicide Prevention’s theme, “Changing the Narrative on Suicide,” is a call to shift from silence and shame to openness, empathy, and real support. SAMHSA echoes this with “Together in Strength, Dignity, Hope, and Purpose.”
Suicide is a public health crisis. In the United States, someone dies by suicide roughly every 11 minutes. Yet decades of research consistently show that asking someone directly about suicide, with care and without judgment, does not plant the idea. It creates relief. It opens a door that silence had sealed shut.
This September, we invite you to start a conversation. Be the difference. Healing is possible, help exists, and no one has to face this alone.
Warning Signs to Know
Warning signs do not always look like a crisis. Sometimes they look like withdrawal, sometimes like calm after a long stretch of pain. If any of the following feel familiar for someone in your life, take it seriously and stay close.
Signs That May Indicate Someone Is at Risk
- Talking about wanting to die, being a burden, or having no reason to live
- Searching for methods or researching ways to end their life
- Withdrawing from friends, family, and activities; increasing isolation
- Giving away prized possessions or saying final goodbyes
- Extreme mood changes, including sudden calm after a period of deep depression
- Increased substance use as a way of coping with unbearable pain
- Sleeping too much or too little, expressing hopelessness about the future
If you notice these signs
Stay with the person, listen without judgment, and connect them to the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline. You do not need to have all the answers. Your presence is the most powerful intervention there is.
Recognized some of these signs in yourself or someone you love? Our board-certified psychiatrists are accepting new patients at all three STMHA locations. Tricare, Medicare, and most major insurance accepted.
Become a Patient →Three Ways You Can Be the Difference
You do not need clinical training to save a life. You need presence, patience, and a willingness to say the hard thing out loud. Here is where to start.
Ask the Question Directly
Research shows that people who are struggling feel relief, not harm, when someone asks about suicide with care. Try: “I’ve been worried about you. Are you thinking about suicide?” Saying the word is not dangerous. Silence is. Direct questions signal that you can handle a real answer.
Listen Without Fixing
You do not need to solve the problem. What most people need is to be heard, without judgment or agenda. Resist the urge to minimize (“things aren’t that bad”) or to redirect to solutions before they’re ready. Stay. Listen. Witness. That is the work.
Connect to Support
After listening, offer to help connect them to professional support, whether that’s therapy, medication management, or a call to 988. Sit with them while they make the call. Drive them to their first appointment. Follow up the next day, and the day after that. Staying connected in the days and weeks after a crisis is protective and evidence-based.
“I am not a burden. I am a person who is struggling, and struggling people deserve help, just like people with broken bones deserve a cast. My pain is real. My life has value. I am worth fighting for.”
What You Eat Affects How You Feel
Nutrition is a real, if quiet, part of mood regulation. Tryptophan supports serotonin production, B vitamins support neurotransmitter balance, and complex carbohydrates help stabilize energy. This simple sheet-pan dinner delivers all three, and takes about 40 minutes start to finish.
Lemon Herb Baked Chicken Thighs with Roasted Vegetables
A comforting, nourishing sheet-pan dinner. Warm as the season turns.
- 4 bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs
- 2 cups broccoli florets
- 2 cups sweet potato, cubed
- 1 red bell pepper, sliced
- 3 tbsp olive oil
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- Juice and zest of 1 lemon
- 1 tsp dried oregano, 1 tsp thyme
- 1 tsp paprika, salt & pepper
- Fresh parsley to serve
- Preheat oven to 400°F. Whisk olive oil, garlic, lemon juice and zest, and spices to make the marinade.
- Coat chicken thighs thoroughly in marinade. Arrange on a large sheet pan.
- Toss vegetables with the remaining marinade and arrange around the chicken.
- Roast 35 to 40 minutes until chicken is golden and cooked through (165°F internal). Garnish with parsley and a squeeze of lemon.
“Even the darkest night will end and the sun will rise.”
— Victor Hugo, Les MisérablesTake Action This September
Awareness means nothing without action. Here are four concrete things you can do this month, for yourself and for the people you love.
Wear Purple and Teal on Sept. 10
World Suicide Prevention Day colors are purple (remembrance) and teal (awareness). Wear them, share a post, and start a conversation. Visibility signals to those who are struggling that they are not alone.
Save 988 in Your Phone
Right now, save 988 (Suicide & Crisis Lifeline) in your contacts and share the number with five people you care about. In a crisis, fumbling for a number costs precious time. This takes 10 seconds and could save a life.
Learn QPR in 30 Minutes
QPR (Question, Persuade, Refer) is a free, evidence-based suicide prevention training anyone can take online. Like CPR for mental health emergencies, it teaches you to recognize warning signs and take action. Visit qprinstitute.com.
Schedule a Check-In Appointment
September is a powerful time to schedule a mental health appointment for yourself or someone you love. STMHA providers are accepting new patients at all three locations, in-person or by telehealth. Don’t wait for a crisis. Preventive care saves lives.
Take action today. STMHA is accepting new patients across South Texas. Insurance is verified before your first appointment so there are no surprises.
Schedule an Appointment →Nourish Your Mind
Curated talks, books, podcasts, and articles focused on suicide prevention, hope, resilience, and how to support the people you love through darkness.
The Bridge Between Suicide and Life
Former California Highway Patrol officer Kevin Briggs has talked hundreds of people back from the edge of the Golden Gate Bridge. His talk on what those conversations taught him is unforgettable.
Watch on TED.com →Depression, the Secret We Share
A beautifully honest talk about depression, identity, and finding meaning in the darkest places. Solomon weaves together research and personal narrative with rare candor.
Watch on TED.com →A Tale of Mental Illness, From the Inside
Law professor Elyn Saks shares her experience living with schizophrenia, and makes an eloquent case for the humanity, dignity, and full lives possible for people with serious mental illness.
Watch on TED.com →Break the Silence for Suicide Attempt Survivors
A survivor of a near-fatal suicide attempt speaks openly about what he needed to hear, and how we can create space for survivors to share their stories and find healing.
Watch on TED.com →Night Falls Fast: Understanding Suicide
Written by a Johns Hopkins psychiatrist who herself survived a suicide attempt, this is the definitive, compassionate exploration of suicide: its biology, history, and the pathways toward prevention and hope.
Reasons to Stay Alive
Haig’s searingly honest memoir about depression and anxiety, and the long, often surprising path back to a life worth living. Beautifully written, deeply hopeful, and a lifeline for many readers.
No Time to Say Goodbye: Surviving the Suicide of a Loved One
For those who have lost someone to suicide, Fine’s compassionate guide navigates the specific grief of suicide loss (the questions, the guilt, the isolation) and points toward healing and community.
An Unquiet Mind
A stunning memoir about living with bipolar disorder from one of the world’s leading authorities on mood disorders. Intimate, brilliant, and ultimately a testament to the power of treatment and resilience.
AFSP’s Lived Experience Podcast
Stories from survivors of suicide loss and suicide attempts: raw, honest, and profoundly humanizing. AFSP is the nation’s leading suicide prevention organization.
Listen Now →Speaking of Suicide
A therapist and researcher who has personal lived experience hosts thoughtful conversations about suicidal thinking, prevention, and recovery, with honesty that breaks through the stigma and silence.
Listen Now →Ten Percent Happier with Dan Harris
Harris’s episodes on depression, anxiety, and the neuroscience of mental health are among the best available. His own story of panic and recovery makes every conversation more authentic and accessible.
Listen Now →Hope Starts With Us
NAMI’s podcast featuring stories of lived experience, expert conversations, and community, designed to reduce stigma and reinforce that recovery is real. Especially powerful during Suicide Prevention Month.
Listen Now →NAMI Suicide Prevention Month Hub
NAMI’s official Suicide Prevention Month resources, including their toolkit, warning signs guide, and evidence-based messaging for talking about suicide safely and reducing stigma.
Read Now →Suicide Prevention Awareness Month Toolkit
SAMHSA’s comprehensive free toolkit with shareable graphics and evidence-based messaging for communities, organizations, and individuals who want to make a difference this September.
Access Toolkit →Suicide Statistics and Risk Factors
Clear, compassionate, and current data on suicide in the United States. Essential context for understanding who is most at risk and where prevention efforts have the greatest impact.
Read Now →Supporting Someone Through a Mental Health Crisis
Crisis Text Line’s resources on how to support someone in crisis, drawn from real data across millions of anonymous crisis conversations, plus ways to connect anyone struggling to immediate free help.
Read Now →You Are Never Alone · Help Available 24/7
Care Available Across South Texas
Whether you need talk therapy, medication management, or advanced treatment for depression that hasn’t responded to other approaches, STMHA offers a full continuum of psychiatric care across San Antonio, Corpus Christi, and Edinburg.