Suicide Awareness

San Diego Access and Crisis Line
1-888-724-7240

Hours of Operation: 24 hours a day/ 7 days a week. The San Diego Access and Crisis Line serves as a suicide prevention/intervention hotline. It provides mental health crisis intervention and information and referral to mental health services in San Diego County, including referrals to mental health care professionals who accept Medi-Cal and those who do not have health insurance. It also provides information and referral to County Drug and Alcohol treatment and recovery services for adults, adolescents and pregnant and parenting women who are receiving Medi-Cal or who do not have health insurance. Calls are FREE and answered by trained professionals. Service is available in multiple languages.

National Suicide Prevention Lifeline 1-800-273-8255 Nacional de Prevención del Suicidio 1-888-628-9454

The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is a national network of local crisis centers that provides free and confidential emotional support to people in suicidal crisis or emotional distress 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. We’re committed to improving crisis services and advancing suicide prevention by empowering individuals, advancing professional best practices, and building awareness.

TrevorLifeline, a suicide prevention counseling service for the LGBTQ community can be reached at 866-488-7386.

Resources for Survivors

Survivors for Suicide Loss reaches out to and supports people who have lost a loved one to suicide. Our goal is to give survivors a place where they can be comfortable expressing themselves, a place to find support, comfort, resources, and hope in a judgment-free environment.

Resources for Young Adults

Luke Maxwell is the founder of U Can’t Be Erased, an organization designed to break the stigma of teen depression and stop the epidemic of suicide today, especially among Catholic youth. Having personally experienced mental health challenges, he formed teen depression support groups to prevent suicide and other forms of self-harm. His mission is to empower teens and those around them to recognize, overcome and be unashamed of their mental illness. Luke is the author of The Blueprint of How I Overcame My Depression (and You Can, Too), which is available as a free eBook through his website. Luke shared his experiences with the Healing Pathways community in March 2019.

Christine Marie Frey is the founder of Brain XP. She is a teenager battling mental health challenges. Brain XP (brain eXPanded) is dedicated to other teenagers who suffer from mental health issues. Brain XP’s mission is to change the language of mental health by emphasizing the expanded, creative, insightful and intuitive functions of the brain for those with mental health challenges, especially teenagers. This is her chance to impact others with passion and positivity. The mission is ultimately about teen helping teens. Christine is the author of Brain XP: Living with Mental Illness, A Young Teenager’s Perspective. The audiobook is available for free on her website. Christine shared her incredible story at the rededication of the Mental Health Ministry Network in November 2019.

Resource for Parishes

Many Catholic pastoral leaders feel ill-equipped to respond to the turmoil of those who face the death by suicide of a loved one. Responding to Suicide is the first book that takes a holistic approach to understanding suicide and ministering effectively in its aftermath.

More than a dozen leading mental health practitioners, Catholic theologians, and pastoral care experts, including our own Bishop Dolan, draw on personal experiences to share how best to respond to suicide as leaders in parishes, schools, healthcare systems, and other Church settings. The book provides basic information about the central role of mental health in suicide, clarifies Church teaching on suicide, the afterlife, and about funerals and burials for those who have died by suicide.

Read an excerpt here.

The Mental Health Ministry Network (MHMN) is a collaboration between the Diocese of San Diego, local parishes and affiliated groups to provide resources regarding treatment options and provide community education surrounding mental illness and its stigma. The goal of MHMN is to accompany those who are suffering both clinically and through specific circumstances.