K E E P   Y O U R
H E A D
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D O N ' T
B O T T L E   I T
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D O N ' T
G I V E
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PROJECT GOALS
ABOUT THE PROJECT
PROJECT IMPACT

Suicidal thoughts and behaviors (STB), defined as anything a person does intentionally that can cause injury to one’s self, including death (i.e., suicide attempt, suicide ideation, non-suicidal self-injury), is a significant public health issue. A growing number of STB prevention programs train adults and peers (termed “gatekeeper training”) to be more active bystanders– to try to help when they see someone who may be at risk for self-injury. Such programs have demonstrated positive changes in knowledge and attitudes about suicide, but have had less success in changing behaviors in real world settings and few focus on youth and young adults as bystanders.  A better understanding of the variables that promote successful STB prevention behaviors could inform more effective STB bystander actions.

Project Lift Up is a national longitudinal study of almost 5,000 youth and young adults across the United States. The project was designed to understand awareness of suicidal behavior among social networks, helping (“bystander”) behaviors, and personal impact overtime. Important contextual factors are also measured, including personal suicidal thoughts and behaviors, help-seeking, social and structural determinants of health, and personal strengths and resiliency. Survey data are supplemented with interviews with professionals in the fields of mental health and prevention, as well as with youth themselves about barriers that prevent and contexts that promote helping specific to suicidal thoughts and behaviors as well as recommendations related to prevention training.

Findings from Project Lift Up will identify ways to improve youth identification of and responses to persons at risk for suicidal thoughts and behaviors in ways that reduce personal risk for themselves and others. A better understanding of the impact of helping will enhance prevention efforts to teach and assess self-care and support for bystanders themselves.

 
RESOURCES FOR

Youth & Families

counselors & practioners

Researchers

LIFT LINES

Everybody needs a lift sometimes. some words of wisdom from peers to help lift you up.

It’s always darkest before the dawn or “Only in darkness can you see the stars.     /     
You have the courage to begin again.     /     
Be gentle with yourself. You have the power to protect your peace.     /     
In response to “You’re pointless simply say “Thirty-nine buried. Zero found.     /     
If life doesn’t go right, go left. There’s always another path.     /     
If you do what you love, you’ll never work a day in your life.      /     
It is okay if all you do today is survive.     /     
Wake up every day with the thought that something amazing is about to happen.     /     
It’s okay to prioritize yourself.     /     
I understand you; I care about you.     /     
Just keep moving forward. Always.     /     
The greatest glory in living lies not in the failing, but in the rising time when we fall.     /     
Hating people is like burning your own home to get rid of a rat.     /     
A problem is a chance for you to do your best.     /     
Happiness often sneaks through the door you didn’t know you left open.     /     
Wait and hope.     /     
Good things take time.     /     
Work on yourself. For you yourself.     /     
Be where your feet are.     /     
Love yourself the way you love others.     /     
Don’t tell me the sky is the limit when there are footprints on the moon.     /     
I know love exists because I exist, and I am full of it.     /     
Sometimes you have to cut a little bit of yourself off, no matter how much it hurts, in order to grow.     /     
The sleeper must awaken.     /     
You are not your mistakes. They are what you did. Not who you are.     /     
More love. Less hate.     /     
Keep hold of the small wins, the small joys, and use those as the steps to keep you going … “Collecting small things kept me going. Gotta stay to finish my collection. But in the process of making one collection, I found a new one and it kept going from there. It’s not a permanent fix, but it can at least help you until you are able to get help.      /     
I am patient. I am resilient. I am worthy. Today, I let go of things I cannot change.     /     
You don’t need a grand reason to live. The small things usually outweigh the big.     /     
Try to be a rainbow is someone else’s cloud.     /     
Don’t use your energy to worry. Use your energy to create, grow, and heal.     /     
Your direction is more important than your speed.     /     
The poetry of earth is never dead.     /     
Don’t let yesterday take up too much of today.     /     
Take the time it takes to take less time.     /     
     /     No matter how we choose to live, we both die at the end.
     /     Treat every day like it’s the good old days, because you’re living them right now.
     /     At the end of the day it’s still you.
     /     Better to be a lion for a day then a sheep all your life.
     /     The idea is not to live forever, but to create something that will.
     /     What a poor reason for refusing light, because the night is so dark.
     /     Wherever you go, go with all your heart.
     /     Do not wait for the perfect conditions to start.
     /     Trust your intuition. If something feels right to you, it probably is right for you. Put yourself first.
     /     I am not afraid of storms for I am learning how to sail my ship.
     /     People lie and say what you want to hear, but nature won’t. Nature is life in its purest form.
     /     There will be no end if you keep asking others’ approval. Be true to yourself and you will be free.
     /     Friends come and go but the ones that stay are family.
     /     Stay close to anything around you that makes you glad you are alive.
     /     Birthdays tell how long you’ve been on the road, not how far you’ve traveled.
     /     Success is going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm.
     /     You are loved.
     /     Success is the ability to leave failure behind without losing enthusiasm.
     /     Self-Care: refers to the practices that promote physical, mental, and emotional well-being, and enhance overall quality of life.
     /     To be loved is to be known: to be understood is to be witnessed.
     /     Celebrate every win no matter how small.
     /     A bad morning does not mean a bad day.
     /     If every porkchop were perfect, we wouldn’t have hot dogs.
     /     It’s a marathon, not a race.
     /     You have writers who write about crazy characters but that doesn’t mean the writer himself is crazy.
     /     The hard times are golden because they all lead to better days.
     /     Celebrate every win, no matter how small.
     /     And this too shall pass.
     /     When we strive to become better than we are, everything around us becomes better too.
     /     We do it because we believe we have something to offer.
     /     Do things at your own pace. Life is not a race.
     /     Treat every day like it’s the good old days.
     /     With every act of self-care your authentic self gets stronger, and the critical, fearful mind gets weaker. Every act of self-care is a powerful declaration: I am on my side, I am on my side.
     /     I’ve tried so hard to do right.
     /     Even on the darkest days the sun will shine again.
There are too many flowers to smell and songs to listen to for me to stop going.     /     
Do it and do it horribly; it means just go for it and show up, life’s about showing up not perfect.     /     
It’s natural to cry don’t let people make you feel otherwise.      /     
If speaking kindly to plants can help them grow, imagine what speaking kindly to humans can do.     /     
Remember, some things have to end for better things to begin.     /     
Meh, I’ll make it. I always do.     /     
Hold fast. Brave the storm.     /     
We cannot control the world around us. We can only control our response to it.     /     
Remember this: be kind to your mind. Kindness is beautiful. You got this.     /     
You are loved unconditionally and with an unchanging love.     /     
You must take care of yourself to be able to care of others.     /     
Wake up everyday with that thought that something amazing is about to happen.     /     
The true way to be happy is to do something to add to the happiness of others.     /     
Crying does not indicate that you are weak. Since birth, it has been a sign that you are alive.     /     
All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us.     /     
God help those who help themselves.     /     
Always remember that you are unique. Just like everyone else.     /     
Everyone can master a grief but he that has it.     /     
Don’t let yesterday take up too much of today.     /     
Keep your face towards the sunshine and shadows will fall behind you.     /     
Bloom where you are planted.     /     
It’s all about perspective.     /     
Aim for the moon and if you miss, land among the stars.     /     
Always look for the helpers, you will always find people who are helping.     /     
Be what you want others to be.     /     
You are worthy of all the things you want, even the things that feel out of reach.     /     
Be comforted deal soul! There is always light behind the clouds!      /     
Happiness is not by chance, but by choice.     /     
As long as you are breathing, you’ll grow. Everything heals, you just need time and hope.     /     
Be patient with yourself. Healing takes time.     /     
Growth begins when we start to accept our own weakness.     /     
Let it happen.      /     
Balance is a process, not a definition.     /     
We cannot control the world around us. We can only control our responses to it.     /     

OUR LIFT OFF CREW

Meet the professionals behind the Project.

Kim Mitchell Ph.D
Principal Investigator, Research Professor, Crimes against Children Research Center, University of New Hampshire (UNH)
I am an Irish dance mom — my other full time job!
Vicki Banyard Ph.D
Principal Investigator and Distinguished Professor School of Social Work, and Core Faculty for Center of Reseearch on Ending Violence at Rutgers University
I love going camping.
Michelle Ybarra MPH, PH.D
Co-Investigator , President and Reasearch Director at Center for Innovative Public Health Research (CiPHR)
I enjoy doing a silly kind of Pilates called Lagree.
Shira Dunsiger Ph.D
Co-Investigator, Assoicate Professor (Research) at Center for Health Promotion and Health Equity, Department of Behavioral and Social Sciences at Brown Universtiy, School of Public Health
My first job was making balloon animals at children's birthday parties!
Lisa Jones Ph.D
Co-Investigator, Research Associate Professor, Crimes against Children Research Center, University of New Hampshire (UNH)
I love baking bread in my spare time.
Julie Cerel Ph.D
Co-Investigator, Professor and Director of the Suicide Prevention and Exposure Lab at the University of Kentucky College of Social Work
I take a picture of the sunset most days.
Linda Oshin Ph.D
Consultant, Assistant Professor, Clinical Psychology Department Rutgers University
I love baking and will gladly shirk my research responsibilities to bake someone a cake!
Deirdre Colburn Ph.D
Postdoctoral Reasearch Associate, Crimes against Children Research Center, University of New Hampshire (UNH)
I love to travel and have visited 10 different countries over the past 3 years!
Haylee Foster BA.
Research Associate, Crimes against Children Research Center, University of New Hampshire (UNH)
My rescue Pit Bull is my whole world.
Elton Ortiz MS.
Research Associate at the Center for Innovative Public Health Research (CiPHR)
Playing soccer and taking naps are my hobbies outside of work.
Gabriela Crinigan
Research Associate, Crimes against Children Research Center, University of New Hampshire (UNH)
I am an artist and my inspiration comes largely from memories of my upbringing in Venezuela.
Tori Schofield MS.
Research Assistant, Crimes against Children Research Center, University of New Hampshire (UNH)
I am a gym rat and love anything with peanut butter.
Maggie Crean MA.
Research Assistant, Crimes against Children Research Center, University of New Hampshire (UNH)
I am a die-hard Red Sox fan!
Lovisa Werner
Biostatistician, Brown University School of Public Health
I competed in ballroom dance growing up!

OUR PARTNERS

Project lift up is brought to you in collaboration with the following

University of New Hampshire Brown University Rutgers University University of Kentucky CiPHR

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