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.

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

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

SOCIAL MEDIA

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