In 1987, a number of leading experts on suicide came together with business and community leaders and survivors of suicide to form the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. They believed that only a combined effort would make it possible to fund the research necessary for progress in the prevention of suicide. Such an approach has proven successful with heart disease, cancer and diabetes and it was hoped that it would be successful in dealing with depression and suicide. Many of our original founders were concerned with the alarming rise in youth suicide over the past four decades.
Suicide is now the second major cause of death among high school and college students.
Suicide is even more frequent among older people. The highest rates are found in men over 50. Before the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention was formed, there was no national non-profit organization dedicated to funding the research, education, and treatment programs necessary to prevent suicide. Over the past thirteen years, we have changed that. AFSP Institutional Grants helped major medical centers throughout the country such as Columbia, Einstein, Harvard, Western Psychiatric in Pittsburgh, the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston, and Emory University to become important centers for suicide research.