Outlive is a youth suicide prevention programme which addresses urban youth suicides in India by engaging young people aged 18-24, in particular youth with experiences related to suicide/self-harm, distress or mental health problems.

Why Outlive?

Suicide is the leading cause of death in youth aged 18-24 in India. There are multiple factors which contribute to youth suicides such as academic pressure, discrimination, relationship conflicts, and violence. Further, young people experience barriers such as lack of youth-centric services, stigma, high costs and confidentiality concerns which prevent them from receiving timely support. However, there are very few youth suicide prevention programs in India which address the preferences of youth aged 18 to 24. There is a need for programs which increase awareness, provide youth-centric services and engage young people in developing policy solutions for youth suicide prevention.

How are we addressing the issue?

Outlive is a youth suicide prevention program led by the Centre for Mental Health Law & Policy, Indian Law Society (CMHLP, ILS) and was developed in collaboration with Sangath and Quicksand Design Studio. Outlive addresses urban youth suicides in India by engaging youth (aged 18-24) with experiences of suicide/self-harm, distress or mental health problems.

Outlive centres youth partnership in all its programs by engaging youth with lived experience as staff, advisors, trainers, peer supporters and youth advocates. Outlive’s programs were co-designed with 50 youth through a series of consultations and co-design workshops.

Outlive’s Programs

Through a participatory and human-centred design approach, Outlive has engaged with young people to co-develop three suicide prevention interventions:

*A public engagement campaign on youth suicide prevention that entails sharing resources (in English, Hindi & Marathi) to increase awareness and reduce stigma and discrimination attached to the issue.

*A network of peer supporters trained to provide emotional support to youth experiencing distress or having thoughts of ending their life, using an anonymous chat-based platform.

*A one-year fellowship programme to train 10 Youth Advocates to engage with policymakers and influence policy processes for youth suicide prevention.

1) Public Engagement Campaign – enabling youth with suicide prevention resources to tackle stigma

Conducting workshops in colleges and communities to improve literacy on youth suicides, challenge myths and share resources to support oneself and others.
Sharing stories of hope of young people who have survived suicide through videos, blogs, and artwork
Disseminating youth suicide prevention resources offline and digitally through India’s first youth suicide prevention resource platform for youth who are in crisis or need to support loved ones who may be contemplating suicide. To access these resources visit www.outlive.in

2) Outlive Chat – saving young lives through chat-based peer support

Outlive Chat is a peer support helpline which provides chat-based suicide prevention support to young people. Outlive trains youth volunteers to provide free and anonymous emotional support and suicide prevention resources to youth in distress or having thoughts of suicide through the Outlive Chat web app. To know more, visit chat.outlive.in.

3) Youth Action for Suicide Prevention (YASP) Fellowship – empowering youth leaders in policy and governance for suicide prevention.

Outlive’s YASP Fellowship is a leadership program which builds capacities of young people to engage with policymakers and participate in policy making for for youth suicide prevention . The YASP Fellowship comprises a hybrid foundational training and individual mentoring for YASP Fellows to develop skills such as understanding youth suicides as a governance issue, identify community & policy gaps, and develop strategies to engage with policymakers to prevent youth suicides.

What is the potential impact?

Outlive’s objective is to empower and enable young people to tackle stigma related to suicide, provide suicide prevention support and work towards systemic change in their specific contexts so that youth have

increased awareness about suicide prevention and mental health
access to rights-based peer-led suicide prevention and support services
skills to engage with policy maker on suicide prevention.

Outlive Chat aims to provide chat-based emotional support to young people across India. Outlive Chat aims to scale up across different geographies by training youth in colleges and universities as peer supporters and reaching young people in distress through online (social media, online platforms) and offline channels (community-based organisations, colleges, youth groups).

The YASP Fellowship aims to empower youth leaders to engage with policymakers across tier-1, tier-2 and tier-3 cities in India, and other stakeholders through their advocacy initiatives for addressing governance issues related to youth suicides.

Outlive’s public engagement campaign aims to roll out stories of young people who have survived suicide; develop suicide prevention resources in different languages; and conduct suicide prevention workshops across colleges, universities and community-based organisations.

Where have we reached?

In the pilot stage, our team held consultations and co-design workshops with 50 young people t from diverse backgrounds across Delhi, Mumbai, and Puneto co-design its three suicide prevention programs.

Public engagement intervention: We developed a public engagement intervention based on young people’s suggestions and ideas. As part of the intervention, we engaged with young people through public events, awareness workshops, and social media campaigns to encourage conversations on suicide prevention.
Outlive launched a myth busting poster campaign on social media and cross college campuses to help break common misconceptions and end the shame and stigma associated with suicide. The team has created psychoeducational resources on understanding suicide, helping oneself, and how one can support a person who is dealing with thoughts of suicide. These myth busting posters and resources are available on Outlive’s website in English, Hindi, and Marathi. We also invited stories of lived experiences to highlight the importance of talking openly about suicide and seeking help, challenging stigma and promoting recovery. A series of young people’s stories are available on Outlive’s website as video films and written blogs.Outlive has reached over 7120 youth through workshops in colleges and community centres (updated till June 2025)
- 7120+ youth reached via awareness events and workshops
- 64 university campuses display posters about suicide prevention
- 11 psychoeducation resources developed in 3 languages (English, Hindi and Marathi)
- 31 powerful stories of hope and recovery from young adults, via videos, blogs, interviews and artwork.
- 23,089 unique visitors to Outlive website (Feb 23- Jun 25)
Peer support program:
Outlive’s peer support program seeks to improve access to suicide prevention resources for young individuals. By connecting peers who share similar experiences or social backgrounds, the program provides non-judgmental emotional support.Peer support (August 31st, 2023, to Jun 30st, 2025.)
- 169 youth trained as peer supporters.
- 16 young professionals recruited and trained as peer mentors.
- 13328 visitors to Outlive Chat, Outlive’s chat-based peer support platform
- 1650 chats accepted by peer supporters to provide emotional support to young people.
- 1206 individuals have explored resources available on the Outlive chat webpage.
  With support from the Murty Trust, Outlive Chat will deepen its impact as India’s free, anonymous, chat-based peer support service for youth in distress. Over the next four years, we’ll train 500 volunteers from colleges and community organisations across tier-1 and tier-2 cities in Karnataka, Sikkim, and beyond.
Youth Action for Suicide Prevention (YASP) Fellowship Program: In the pilot phase, the YASP Fellowship has trained over 20 fellows who have reached out to 1000 youth and other stakeholders across eight tier-1 and tier-2 cities in India (Raipur, Bhubaneshwar, Jaipur, Srinagar, Gangtok, Pune, Mumbai and Delhi). YASP Fellows have advocated for various issues impacting youth suicides including gender-based violence, welfare provisions for informal labourers, bullying in schools, caste-based discrimination in educational institutions and affirmative support for trans communities.

Selected as a top solution (Models for Youth Centric Governance) under Call For Solutions, an initiative jointly led by the 10to19 Dasra Adolescents Collaborative and YuWaah (Generation Unlimited India) at UNICEF. Through the Murty Trust grant, the YASP Fellowship will expand into tier-1 and tier-2 cities across Karnataka, Sikkim, and additional states. Over four years, we’ll strengthen the capacities of 100 youth leaders through hybrid trainings, one-on-one mentoring, and hands-on advocacy projects. Fellows will work with their communities and policymakers to co-create policy solutions that address the root causes of youth suicide, embedding participatory governance and youth agency into local and state-level suicide prevention.

Outlive has been mentioned as a good practice example for participatory approaches in service design in Youth Mental Health of Children and Young People Service Guidance Package by the World Health Organisation & UNICEF (page 90).

To learn more about Outlive, visit our website outlive.in and follow our social media handles.

Instagram: @the.outlive.project.

Twitter: @OutliveProject .