Peer support specialists — those individuals with lived experience of mental illness and/or substance use disorder (SUD) — have been well-established in behavioral health interventions.
Their shared experience provides the credibility and understanding that help individuals with mental health and SUD challenges on their road to recovery.
It is already an alarming statistic that suicide is the 10th leading cause of death among Americans, and it’s only getting worse.
From 1999 to 2018, the suicide rate has increased by 35 percent, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.