Kevin Briggs has had a life of service: First in the Army, then as a correctional officer, and finally in the Highway patrol in CA, which included patrolling the Golden Gate Bridge, a hotspot for suicide. His job was precisely to talk to people who were threatening to jump off the bridge. He has a TED Talk called “The bridge between suicide and life,” which has been watched for over 3.5 million people. Today he is a mental health and suicide prevention speaker and trainer.

For more than a decade, he would go to the bridge and talk to those at risk, something he had never been trained to do. Kevin answered hundreds of emergency calls. In this interview, he shares what he learned about suicidal people, powerful stories of those he saved, what they had in common, ways to approach this population, what to avoid, and how his view on mental health has evolved since then. He also talks about his personal history of suicide: his grandfather took his life, something the family has never discussed.

After years of avoiding his own mental illness, Kevin reached his limit and started treatment for depression.

In 2019, there were 28 confirmed suicides on the bridge and 167 interventions. Since its inauguration in 1937, over 1,700 have died by jumping off the Golden Gate.

Watch Kevin’s TED Talk:

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You can watch this interview on my YouTube Channel "Understand Suicide"

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Find my book "Understanding suicide: living with loss, paths to prevention"

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