CISM News
As we recognize Mental Health Month, we see the impact all across the globe. So many are facing war-either fighting or fleeing, natural disasters and ongoing ramifications from the pandemic. Let’s focus on strengthening our own mental health, and support those around us.
Mental Health Crisis Among Azerbaijani Veterans
David McKay: Mental health care in a crazy world
Mental Health: Get Support. Take Control. Feel Better
First Responders and Mental Health: When Heroes Need Rescuing
Providing suicide prevention services to first responders
As suicides rise, US military seeks to address mental health
COVID-19 presents an opportunity to strengthen mental health in the Americas
September is National Suicide Prevention Month and it is vital that we create a dialogue in our communities to support each other. When we truly care, and acknowledge that it is okay not to be okay, then we create an environment of empathy and open the lines of communication.
Practicing self-care is a strategy we can all employ to reduce suicidal thoughts and actions. Engaging in a self-care routine has been clinically proven to reduce or eliminate anxiety and depression, reduce stress, improve concentration, minimize frustration and anger, increase happiness, and improve energy. Regular self-care in which we do the things that make us feel taken care of mentally, physically, and emotionally doesn’t always happen, and we may need to stop and take the time to remind ourselves we are important, too.
- Suicide Prevention Awareness Month And Self-Care Highlights Basic Tips For Better Mental Health
- Self-care is not self-indulgent, and you can start now with these tips
- There Are Six Types Of Self-Care — Here’s How To Practice Each One
- The importance of self-care heading into fall and winter months
- National Suicide Prevention Month – September 2022
- When Uncertainty is Our New Normal: Managing Feelings of Helplessness Over the Course of Continuing Challenges
- Veteran Suicide and Project 2025: Reflecting and Finding Purpose
- First responder suicide rates increase; firefighter support team offers services to help
- Suicide Prevention and Mental Health Crisis Response Services: What They Are and How We Can Support Them
As the lazy days of summer come to a close, we look forward to a time of new beginnings as the schools reopen. This year we are hoping that the days of mask wearing in schools are over, and the children can once again play together freely. College campuses are opening with mandatory vaccinations but optional mask wearing. Children from Ukraine are finding new places and ways to learn. It is a new normal. Here is how the children, young adults, faculties and staffs are gearing up to support the mental health of all involved in education.
- Back To School: Israeli Tech Group Helps Kids Who Fled Ukraine
- Online education and the mental health of faculty during the COVID-19 pandemic
- More public schools are now offering mental health services
- ‘We are not in this alone’: stressed teachers find hope in peer-support model used by frontline health workers
- Why and how leaders should tackle teacher wellness
- Back to school: Mental health advice for families
- Balancing Back to School and Mental Health
There are new efforts to transform the mental health care system and make care easily accessible everywhere in the United States. This is an opportunity for us all to remember how important mental health is, and with renewed focus, countless lives will be improved and saved. Here are some ways we can support each other’s mental health.
Military program helps with mental health issues
Canadian soldier to bike 1,000 km from Edmonton to raise PTSD awareness
Sheriff’s Association launches peer-based program to address mental health needs
Surfing to save: Nonprofit uses surf therapy to reach veterans, first responders
Retired S.C. officer bikes for first responder mental health awareness
100 Club of Arizona unveils apps to help first responders with mental health issues
Improving wellness at work: the new front line of mental health care
10% Discount on Psychological Body Armor™
Your Bookstore for CISM Resources, offers a 10% discount on Dr. Everly’s Field Guide “Psychological Body Armor™“! The goal of this book is to reduce the risk of psychological injury, much the same as physical body armor reduces the risk of physical injury.
Additional Resources


Peer-Reviewed Articles
- The Link Between Subcultures and Traumatic Stress: Barriers To Support, Stabilization and Recovery
- Probable PTSD, Symptoms of Depression, and an Exploratory Factor Analysis of Item Responses in Canadian Steelworkers After Workplace Traumas
- Emergency Medical Dispatchers and PTSD
- PTSD and Suicide Within the Fire and Emergency Services
- So, You Want to Work with Fire Fighters: A Guide For Clinicians, Enhancing Competency when Working with Fire Service Members

PTSD911 Documentary Film: Shining a Light on PTSD & First Responders (Conrad Weaver)
Listen as we speak with guest speaker Conrad Weaver on “PTSD911 Documentary Film: Shining a Light on PTSD & First Responders”.
PTSD is prevalent in our society among first responders, the military, and now more than ever, many citizens that have survived trauma. Natural disasters, epidemics, wars around the world and mass shootings can ignite the feelings and symptoms of PTSD. Here is some information on how to support those with PTSD.
- Understanding and addressing PTSD
- June recognized as Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Awareness Month
- Useful Tips For Veterans On Dealing With PTSD
- The Link Between PTSD, Support, and Exercise in Military Veterans
- First responders call for more support for them and their families living with PTSD
- The Definition of Trauma Is Evolving—Here’s How That Can Help Us Heal
- What Happens When Kids Experience a Traumatic Event?
- The way out of the darkness: How can we better serve men, women in uniform when it comes to mental health?
- The Trauma of Ukraine’s Civilians Will Haunt Them, and Us, for Generations
In May we recognize Mental Health Awareness nationwide. After two years of dealing with Covid, multiple national disasters and now the Russia-Ukraine war, we look for ways to support each other’s mental health journey. In the USA we also acknowledge May as Military Appreciation month and we celebrate our nurses, our firefighters, our EMS personnel and our police who sacrifice so much for their communities.
- When Tragedy Strikes, Remember the First Responders; May is Mental Health Awareness Month
- Mental Health Awareness Month: Supporting your loved ones who are suffering
- Defining mental health and the difference between acute, chronic stress
- Firefighters worldwide recognised
- First responders are human. We must take care of their mental health and well-being
- For Military Appreciation Month, recognizing and supporting those who serve
- Nurses Month 2022 – You Make a Difference
- National Police Week: Support Your Local Law Enforcement
National Teacher Appreciation Week
This week, May 2-6, 2022, we acknowledge and honor teachers, educators and school administrators. The ICISF offers several courses and resources for these professions to assist with maintaining resiliency and managing school crises.
ICISF Courses
- Assisting Individuals in Crisis & Group Crisis Intervention in Colleges and Universities
- Live Training: June 6 – 8, 2022
- Critical Incident Stress Management (CISM) in the College and University Setting
- Live Training: May 25, 2022
Videos
- Pandemic Crises As It Affects Schools (CISM Live Series)
- A Counselor’s Response to the Unthinkable (The Marjorie Stoneman Douglas School Shooting)
Articles