The Local Health Unit (ULS) of the Algarve will promote, starting September 1st, a set of awareness and suicide prevention initiatives in the region, extending until October. Under the motto "Seize Life: September – Suicide Prevention Month", the activities aim to alert the population to this issue, promote depression prevention and reduce the stigma associated with mental illness.
The actions are carried out by professionals from the Department of Psychiatry and Mental Health of ULS Algarve, through the multidisciplinary teams of the Psychiatry Services and the Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Unit of the Faro and Portimão Hospitals. Suicide is described as a problem with some relevance in the Algarve, and the awareness work is developed in coordination with local communities.
The program is part of the international campaign promoted by the International Association for Suicide Prevention and has in Portugal the support of the National Mental Health Plan, the Portuguese Society of Suicidology and the National Plan for Suicide Prevention. The initiatives will take place in several Algarve municipalities, with the participation of local community teams in coordination with municipalities, associations and other civil society partners.
The program includes exhibitions, lectures, training and awareness actions, thematic visits, recreational and movement activities, theater and initiatives aimed at the school community. Informative sessions open to the population are also planned, with distribution of information materials, as well as the dissemination of awareness messages through regional radio stations and newspapers.
