Celebrating Two Years of Jay Walkers

September is just around the corner and that means that our second annual Jay Walkers Challenge for suicide prevention awareness has begun! On September 1st, Jay Walkers across the globe set out in teams of 10-12 people to collectively walk 800,000 steps before the end of the month. When they do, they will walk one step in honor of every life lost worldwide annually to suicide.

September was first designated Suicide Prevention Awareness Month in 2008 by the National Child Traumatic Stress Network. Since then, suicide rates have, unfortunately, continued to rise in the U.S., especially in recent years. Nearly every age group and demographic has seen an uptick in deaths by suicide. Without a collective effort, these trends may only continue.

Unfortunately, there are many myths about suicide that cause us to avoid the topic. One of the most common myths is that talking about suicide will increase the chance that a person will act on it. All research today has debunked that myth and instead supports the practice of addressing the topic of suicide directly, especially when signs of suicide are recognized. This study out of Australia concluded that we could make the biggest strides in preventing suicide if we could just change people’s minds on this one false notion.

To prevent suicide we must get comfortable saying the word. And that is why This Is My Brave initiated the Jay Walkers Challenge in 2022. While Jay Walkers walk, they are encouraged also to talk about suicide to help their friends and family know that suicide is preventable.

Suicidal ideation is not a permanent condition.

With help, a person experiencing suicidal ideation can overcome those feelings.

Will you join us this month in sharing this message of hope to prevent suicide? It’s not too late to sign up to be a Jay Walker. When you do, you will join a community of individuals who are committed to taking action to prevent suicide.

Jay Walkers Virtual Challenge

We are challenging Jay Walkers to walk 2,200 steps daily, which corresponds roughly to the number of lives lost worldwide each day to suicide. Jay Walkers can form a team and strive to walk 800,000 steps by the end of the month.

In doing so, teams will walk a step in memory of every life lost worldwide to suicide each year. While you walk, we encourage Jay Walkers to talk about suicide to normalize conversations and break down the associated stigma.

The vision of This Is My Brave is that one day we will live in a world where we won’t have to call it “brave” to talk openly about mental illness, substance use disorder (and other topics like suicide), we’ll simply call it “talking.” Jay Walkers will contribute to this vision by walking the walk and talking the talk for suicide prevention this September!

Join us and become a Jay Walker for Suicide Prevention Awareness Month!

Register

Resources

If you or someone you know needs help, reach out 24/7 to the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline by dialing or texting 988 or using chat services at suicidepreventionlifeline.org to connect to a trained crisis counselor.

You can also get crisis text support via the Crisis Text Line by texting STORY to 741741.

For additional help, please visit our resource page.