Greater Good · 5 hours ago

How Can Public Policy Help Prevent Suicide?

When Chris Pawelski's family onion farm hemorrhaged money-leaving him with $20,000 from $200,000 worth of crops-he began imagining what it would be like to get hit by a truck on the road in front of his house. His eventual path back from that edge came not just through therapy, but through a program that paired financial planning with emotional support, helping him rebuild both his livelihood and his reason to keep going. This broader approach to suicide prevention-one that addresses the "broken things in our communities" rather than treating suicide solely as a problem of "broken people needing medicine"-is gaining ground among researchers who recognize that when COVID made the world harder, depression rates spiked not because everyone's brain chemistry suddenly changed, but because circumstances did. As Pawelski puts it, crisis hotlines alone are "a band-aid on a gunshot wound"-what's also needed are policies that help people maintain steady work, affordable food, and genuine connection. The question isn't just how to stop people from dying, but how to give them reasons to live.