QUESTION, PERSUADE AND REFER [QPR] PEOPLE WHO ARE SUICIDAL

With the rate of suicides in the United States as of 2015 [from the CDC, 2017] at 13.26 suicides per 100,000, there have been programs developed to help identify and get help for people who are suicidal. Many programs are focused on training gatekeepers [people who are likely to recognize a crisis and warning signs that someone may be thinking about suicide]. The QPR [Question, Persuade and Refer] program is an hour long gate keeper training program that according to the QPR Institute [www.qprinstitute.com] has trained more than a million people to be gate keepers. It is the largest program that trains "gatekeepers" who can then directly question people who are contemplating suicide and persuade them to seek help and then refer them to places that will help them. 

It is hopeful that programs like QPR are available to identify and help people who are contemplating killing themselves. This program reinforces the importance of talking with people that you are concerned about, asking if they are having suicidal thoughts and plans and being willing to listen without our own reactions, to those who are suffering. Then encouraging those people to seek help. I believe that our listening to others who are suffering gives them hope as they realize that they are not alone. What do you think?