Facebook is introducing a new suicide-prevention tool aimed at military families, inspired in part by a new Blue Star Families survey that shows Facebook is a lifeline for many isolated military spouses.
Blue Star Families decided to partner with Facebook, according to spokeswoman Stephanie Himel-Nelson, because the survey found 86% of military families said they used Facebook every day.
In addition, and perhaps more startling, is the fact that 10% of military spouses have considered suicide, according to the survey.
Himel-Nelson says:
As a result, friends and families with concerns about veterans, active duty service members and military family members will receive specific information about crisis services for our nation’s military including The Veterans Crisis Line. The Veterans Crisis line connects veterans in crisis and their families and friends with qualified, caring Department of Veterans Affairs responders via phone, online chat or text messaging.
The Facebook suicide prevention tool is the augmentation of a tool that already exists on Facebook which connects users to crisis counselors through Facebook's "chat" messaging system.
To read the entire 2012 Blue Star Families survey, click here.
