An Open Letter from Lysis on Yellow September

To the academic community and the wider public,

Since its founding, Lysis has been dedicated to studying suicide in its historical, philosophical, cultural, and social complexity. We are committed to critical thought, ethical care, and listening to voices that have been silenced. It is precisely out of fidelity to that commitment that we have chosen to stay officially outside the Yellow September campaigns. Individual members are free to take part in campaign activities in their own capacity.

Yellow September deserves credit for partly breaking the taboo of silence. Many initiatives, however, have taken on the character of fleeting rituals, often geared towards building public authority and in some cases towards business interests. Guided by repetitive messages and imprecise data, they cast a brief light on a problem that demands sustained presence and depth. We recognize some of the campaign's merits. Above all, we believe that a subject of this kind calls for responsibility. It takes a broad perspective, empathy for people in their actual lives, and a critical eye for the language used. These campaigns frequently reduce suicide to an exclusively medical or psychiatric problem, overlooking its existential, social, and cultural dimensions. More seriously, older people, the age group with the highest rates of voluntary death in Brazil, are almost always made invisible by campaigns that prioritize younger audiences for statistical or media convenience.

We are also concerned about the danger of replacing old religious prohibitions with new moral ones. The result is an uncritical, dogmatic approach to prevention that does little to foster genuine listening. Suicide admits of multiple interpretations. To treat it solely as an illness or deviation is to overlook its historical and human complexity.

For these reasons, Lysis will remain active during the other eleven months of the year, undertaking studies and projects and making room for dialogue and listening that address the subject in its complexity. We believe genuine care calls for constancy and courage beyond the attention concentrated in a single month.

We invite colleagues, students, health professionals, and members of the community to join us in building a critical, interdisciplinary, and welcoming conversation about suicide in September and throughout the year.

Pelotas, 11 September 2025 Lysis – Centre for Studies and Research on Suicide and Ways of Life Federal University of Pelotas