Mental Health and Suicide with Dr. Ira Lesser

Monday, April 15, 2024, at 7:30 PM

Please come hear Dr.Ira Lesser speak about mental health and suicide. Suicidal thoughts, much like mental health conditions, can affect anyone regardless of age, gender or background. In fact, suicide is often the result of untreated mental health condition. Suicidal thoughts are not just held by older adults. They are common among teens and young adults. In fact, about 11% of young adults (ages 18-25) report that they’ve had serious thoughts about suicide, and about 1-2% report a suicide attempt during the prior year. These numbers are higher among high school students -nearly 20% report serious thoughts about suicide and 9% report a suicide attempt. It is important to know the warning signs, know the protective factors and be prepared for a crises.

Dr. Ira M. Lesser was Chair of the Department of Psychiatry at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center for 17 years until July 2022 when he stepped down to become more involved in teaching, mentoring, well-being activities. He is a Distinguished Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences at the Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA and an investigator at the Lundquist Institute. Dr. Lesser has had a variety of administrative positions, published of 124 peer review articles. and received many awards and is a Distinguished Life Fellow in the American Psychiatric Association.

He received his undergraduate education at the State University of New York at Buffalo and his Medical Degree at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. He did his psychiatry residency at Harbor-General Hospital (what is now called Harbor-UCLA Medical Center) and has remained at Harbor since completing his residency in 1978. He is Board Certified by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology.

For zoom information, please email Paul Stansbury at pstans5@aol.com.