UT-Chattanooga’s Amy Kyriakidis recognized for suicide prevention efforts

Amy Kyriakidis is the 2024 recipient of the Tennessee Suicide Prevention Network (TSPN) Southeast Regional Suicide Prevention Award. (Contributed by UTC) 

Amy Kyriakidis, assistant director for suicide education and prevention at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga’s Center for Wellbeing, recently received special recognition from the Tennessee Suicide Prevention Network (TSPN) for her contributions to suicide prevention in Tennessee.

According to a recent university announcement, Kyriakidis received the TSPN Southeast Regional Suicide Prevention Award, which was created by TSPN co-founders Madge and Ken Tullis to acknowledge “innovation and excellence in the state’s suicide prevention awareness efforts.” Kyriakidis said it was “humbling” to receive the honor.

“I am truly passionate about mental health and decreasing the stigma around mental health. It feels good to receive the award—but also a little uncomfortable at the same time,” she said.

Kyriakidis, who worked as a licensed professional counselor at the university from September 2021 to October 2022, joined the Center for Wellbeing in December 2023. According to the university, she’s has had an “extensive mental health care career in the Chattanooga area,” which includes roles at the Mental Health Cooperative, Centerstone, Erlanger Behavioral Health Hospital and Alma.

Throughout her work at UTC, the UTC alum has led several initiatives aimed at increasing awareness about suicide and suicide prevention, including partnering with the School of Nursing to provide mental health first aid. Kyriakidis also played a key role in organizing an on-campus summit with mental health advocate April Simpkins during September’s Suicide Prevention Month.  

Kyriakidis earned two bachelor’s degrees from the University in 2002, in history and humanities: international studies, prior to obtaining her mater’s degree in counseling psychology from Richmont Graduate University in 2014.

 “That got me interested more in sociology and traumas and what that looks like—and how that impacts society as a whole. That moved me towards working with mental health,” she said. “What I really loved in moving to this role was working with public health and working with the community as a whole. It was a broader perspective to use a lot of the skills I had gained—especially when it comes to suicide prevention.”

Citing data from TSPN, Kyriakidis noted that more than 48,000 people in the U.S. died by suicide in 2021, which is “one death every 11 minutes.” She said over 12 million reported considering suicide that year, which further highlights the need to connect people with mental health services and suicide prevention programming in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Kyriakidis added that many students on university campuses struggle with loneliness, which was exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. She said one of the main aims of her work is to let students struggling with suicidal ideation know that they are not alone, in order to connect them with mental health resources.

“Looking at the state of Tennessee between the ages 10 and 24, suicide is the second leading cause of death, so suicide ranks a lot higher than you’d think that it would rank … Tennessee loses three people every day to suicide,” she told Tennessee Firefly. “Loneliness primarily is one of the big things that lead to suicide.”