The Setembro Amarelo (Yellow September) is a Brazilian suicide prevention campaign. It was created by three organizations: Centro de Valorização da Vida (CVV), Conselho Federal de Medicina (CFM) and Associação Brasileira de Psiquiatria (ABP). Worldwide, the Yellow September is also supported by the International Association for Suicide Prevention. Since 2015, during September, streets and public transportation are filled with yellow outdoors and advertisements aiming to make the population aware of how suicide can be prevented.
However, you may be asking yourself: why yellow? The yellow ribbon became the symbol of suicide prevention in memory of Mike Emme, an American teenager who took his own life. Mike was a loving boy known for his mechanical abilities, and his yellow Mustang. After that, many stories of how he helped people started emerging, and his family and friends made 500 cards with yellow ribbons, that also came with the note: ”It’s OK to Ask 4 Help”. Three weeks after Mike’s memorial, services started this distribution: ribbon cards got spread all over the United States and Mike’s parents started to receive calls thanking them for the message. The Yellow Ribbon Suicide Program was founded in 1994, and today it has already helped more than 100.000 people, encouraging them to look for professional assistance.
Image Source: Reproduction/Setembro Amarelo Org
According to the World Health Organization, 800.000 people die by suicide every year. It’s the second leading cause of death among people between 15 and 29 years old. In Brazil, it’s the fourth leading cause of death among people in this age average, which means there are 32 daily suicides and that every 45 minutes a person dies by suicide.
This year, Facebook Brazil created a tool to help the suicide prevention campaign. Named #EuEstou (#IamHere), it was idealized by the youtuber PC Siqueira and film-maker M. M. Izadoro, in addition to consulted by psychologist Karen Scavacini. Educational videos about mental health and suicide are being published both on Facebook and Instagram, which also inform where to find free treatment in Brazilian cities. Moreover, Twitter Brazil, on a partnership with CVV, developed a new notification service: #ExisteAjuda (#Thereishelp) – when the user search for words related to suicide, the sentence “You can get help” comes up and the contact of the CVV is provided.
Image Source: Reproduction/Setembro Amarelo Org
If you know someone that is struggling, listen and support them, but most importantly: encourage this person to reach out for professional help. And if suicide ever comes across your mind, please speak up and get help. You’re not alone. Mental health is such an important issue and we can’t pretend suicide isn’t happening all over the world, or treat it as something that can’t be prevented.
We can’t close our eyes to this reality anymore. Suicide has to be discussed, people have to openly talk about it and get more involved, it can no longer be a taboo. With more quality information available, more helpful projects can be developed.
Here are some of the resources available in Brazil:
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Call 188 (CVV)
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Text (CVV)
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E-mail (CVV)
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Places (CVV)
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meajuda@euestou.com (Facebook)
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queroajudar@euestou.com (Facebook)
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