In our darkest hour, the thing that we crave most is connection. ReachOut.com seeks to meet this need for the growing number of teens and young adults who struggle with feelings of hopelessness and thoughts of suicide. By harnessing the power and accessibility of online and mobile platforms, ReachOut meets them where they are to provide vital peer-to-peer support and mental health information. These are keys to helping youth build resilience, withstand tough times and know they are not alone.
Suicide is the third leading cause of death for young people aged 15-24. According to the 2013 data from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, walk into any US high school classroom of 30 students and the chances are that over the past 12 months: 9 have felt hopeless, 6 were bullied, 5 have had serious thoughts of suicide and 2 have attempted suicide. These stark statistics show the need for people - especially youth - to talk about what they're going through.
ReachOut.com can help reduce the teen suicide rate in the US, by encouraging help seeking and stigma reduction through peer support and information. The online platform provides evidence-based information in over 200 factsheets, hosts real life stories written by over 1000 young people, and provides the ability for youth to connect and contribute in a safe and supported community in our moderated ReachOut peer-supported forums with over 14,700 members.
ReachOuts long-term impact will be to help thousands of teens and young adults get through tough times, lead happier lives, and prevent youth suicide. It will achieve this impact by reaching its five main outcomes: Destigmatize mental illness, Increase mental health literacy, Encourage help seeking, Build resilience through improved coping skills and Increase social connectedness.
This project has provided additional documentation in a PDF file (projdoc.pdf).
