You can help cultivate a community of care by checking in with your peers and having open conversations about mental health. Friends, roommates, and partners are often the first people students go to when they are struggling or seeking support.
UW-Madison offers resources for you to learn how you can better support your peers and help connect them to resources.
78% of UW-Madison students would talk to a peer if they were struggling with their mental health.
– Healthy Minds Survey at UW-Madison, 2022
Online Training
To help students better support mental health on campus, UHS offers Undergraduate Suicide Prevention Training: Recognize, Respond, Refer. This multi-part, online program builds capacity in UW-Madison students to intervene, prevent suicide, and support mental health in their peers.
All UW-Madison undergraduate students can access this online training on Canvas. The training takes about one hour. You can complete it from home, on your own time, and can start, stop, and revisit the program as many times as you like.
In this training, you will learn how to:
- Recognize warning signs for suicide in your peers
- Respond in a supportive way
- Refer to resources
Please note: This training does not offer immediate support to students in distress. Contact UHS’s 24-hour Crisis Line or the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline (call or text 988) for immediate help.
Group Trainings
Live (in-person or virtual) prevention trainings for groups of students are available by request. The online training serves as a prerequisite for customized and/or advanced trainings focused on skill building, organizational leadership, student health data, and other prevention topics.
Contact UHS Prevention to request a group training.
Other Education Opportunities
THRIVE Workshops
Psychoeducational workshops offered by UHS Mental Health focus on a variety of topics.
Connecting Badgers
This UHS-hosted podcast focuses on promoting student mental health.
Wellness Coaching
Rec Well offers coaching sessions with a certified Peer Wellness Coach.
Contact Us
UHS Mental Health Promotion and Suicide Prevention staff can be reached by email at suicideprevention@uhs.wisc.edu.
Prevention staff do not provide mental health services, clinical consultation or crisis support. If you need immediate support or to speak with a provider, call (608) 265-5600, option 9.
Make a gift to the UW-Madison Suicide Prevention Fund.