SPM

For 2025, San Mateo County and partners are promoting the statewide theme: “Support, Your Way.”

What if suicide prevention could feel human, honest, and self-assured, all while being inclusive of the different ways people can find support. Rather than centering fear, crisis, or clinical language, this theme is about agency, particularly at vulnerable moments when people feel like they have none. It reflects a cultural truth that people want help on their own terms, and flips the understanding of asking for help not as a loss of control—but as a regaining of it.

It’s not about prescribing what help should look like. It’s about validating the choice to reach out for help, understanding that support can look different for everyone, and reframing the act of asking for support as taking control—not losing it.

Support, Your Way- Tips and Reminders:

• Getting help means taking control. Asking for support isn’t a breakdown. It’s a breakthrough—and it can look like whatever you need it to.
• Support looks different for everyone. Some people talk to a peer. Some text 988. Some open up to a friend. Some start therapy. For some, it’s a mix of all of these options. There’s no one-size-fits-all. You get to choose what feels safe.
• You don’t need to wait for a crisis. Reaching out before things spiral is just as valid as reaching out in an emergency. It’s always the right time to check in or ask for help. 
• You deserve to know what to expect. What happens when you talk to a therapist? When you call a crisis line? When your friend or loved one reaches out to you? This toolkit will walk you through it—all without shame or surprises.
• There’s no wrong way to ask for help. Even if you don’t know what to say. Even if it’s messy.

Each year, San Mateo County Behavioral Health & Recovery Services’ Office of Diversity & Equity (ODE) and Suicide Prevention Committee (SPC) promotes free events throughout the month of September to promote Suicide Prevention Month. All events are free and open to the public. This year’s events will be in-person and/or virtual.

Keep visiting this site for updates on 2025 Suicide Prevention Month.

Download the Suicide Prevention Month flyer here.