JCFS Chicago, MISSD (The Medication-Induced Suicide Prevention and Education Foundation in Memory of Stewart Dolin) and No Shame on U are partnering to provide suicide prevention education and support in the Jewish community with support from JUF’s Breakthrough Fund.
If you are in crisis, or know someone who is in crisis, please reach out for help:
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988 offers 24/7 access to trained crisis counselors who can help people experiencing mental health-related distress. That could be:
- Thoughts of suicide
- Mental health or substance use crisis, or
- Any other kind of emotion distress
People can call or text 988 or chat 988lifeline.org for themselves or if they are worried about a loved one who may need crisis support. 988 serves as a universal entry point so that no matter where you live in the United States, you can reach a trained crisis counselor who can help.
You Are Not Alone: Support for Those in the Jewish Community and Beyond Grieving a Death by Suicide
The following pieces were thoughtfully put together to offer emotional support to those grieving the death of a loved one by suicide, and to bring attention to this need in the larger Jewish community.
We hope this brochure will serve and gently guide individuals and families facing suicide loss, who often need more support, but receive less. We wish to reassure those grieving that they are not alone, and extend compassion and comfort to those who have lost a loved one to suicide. We have also created a companion piece: Supporting a Friend or Loved One Through Suicide Loss.
Grieving a Loss to Suicide Support Group
A monthly drop-in group for adults in the Jewish community and beyond who are navigating the world after the loss of a loved one to suicide. Co-led by experienced clinicians Tracey Kite, LCSW and Wendy Dolin, LCSW.
JCFS counselors and therapists are available throughout Chicago and its suburbs to help individuals, couples and families grieve the loss of friends and family members who have died by suicide. Learn more about our counseling centers or call 855.275.5237.
Our colleagues at JFS in Houston authored this bereavement guide addressing the complex needs of family, friends and colleagues who have lost someone to death by suicide or overdose. These materials console, support and offer guidance to those bereaved by a suicide as well as those who are comforting the bereaved.
Expanding Mental Health Education for Our Community
Learn new ways to help a friend, parent, child or loved one by bringing a JCFS Mental Health Education program to your synagogue, organization or school.
- Recognize the signs that someone may be dealing with a mental health problem or crisis.
- Learn how to actively and compassionately listen to someone in distress.
- Become aware of your own views and feelings about mental health problems and disorders, and correct misconceptions about mental health challenges.
- Learn to offer a distressed person basic "first aid" level information and reassurance about mental health problems, help them seek professional help or connect with appropriate community, peer, and personal supports.
Contact Ann Luban at 847.745.5420 for more information and to schedule a Mental Health Education program.
Our partners
Thank you to NO SHAME ON U for your work to raise awareness and reduce the stigma of mental illness in the Jewish community, provide help and save lives.
Thank you to MISSD for your work to raise awareness and educate the public about the dangers of Akathisia, a disorder, induced as a side effect of medications (including SSRIs and anti-psychotics), which can cause a person such intense restlessness that the sufferer is driven to violence and/or suicide.
Please watch this video for more information about Akathisia.