School-Based Mental Health Promotion and Suicide Prevention in Yamagata, Japan: A Sustainable Model of Help-seeking Behavior Education

In response to persistently high suicide rates in the Tohoku regi implemented a school-based mental health education program called promote help-seeking behaviors among children and adolescents. Th development of model lessons by educators, public health nurses, and un integrates both population-wide and high-risk approaches, emphasizi and community-based mental health literacy. Interactive techniques, such as metaphorical use of paper balloons to recovery, help students internalize the concept of resilience. Local heal classrooms to provide accessible support networks. Early outcomes sho seek and offer help, and a reduction in youth suicide rates—from an a 1 in 2023. This opinion piece presents a culturally grounded and systemic prevention. It offers transferable lessons for public health and nursin health promotion and school-based interventions.