What to Do When Your Friend Is Suicidal

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One of the most frightening experiences a person can accept is hearing a friend or loved 1 say they want to die. While it can be tempting to cope with this data by labeling it every bit attention-seeking behavior or clinging to the myth that people who talk about suicide don't really follow through (which is simply untrue), it'due south important to take all warning signs of suicide and suicidal ideation seriously.

If the Risk of Suicide Is Imminent

If your friend is at adventure of attempting suicide correct at present, phone call your local police section or 911 right away. Imminent danger includes situations where the person is in possession of a weapon, pills, or other means to follow through with suicide.

If possible, don't get out them alone and do your best to remove any items they can use to hurt themselves. If it is safety, you may also drive your friend to the emergency room. Doctors will assess their mental and physical health and create a articulate plan that will help keep them safe.

If, on the other hand, you believe the threat is serious, just not imminent, it'due south still important to act, but you may take the fourth dimension to show support, heed, and encourage them to seek professional aid. Help is bachelor. Hither are some helpful tips from diverse suicide prevention resources.

Confirming Suicidal Thoughts

Don't be afraid to enquire, "Are yous having thoughts of suicide?" Studies bear witness that request at-gamble friends and family members if they are thinking about suicide does not increment suicidal thoughts. You are not putting ideas in their head by request. On the contrary, request volition requite you valuable data about how to go on and assistance.

Get the Facts

If the answer is yes, follow up with these three questions:

• Have you idea nearly how you would practice information technology?
• Do you have what y'all need to carry out your plan?
• Do you lot know when you will do information technology?

Fortunately, the majority of people will either say that they take no definite plans or that they don't have the nerve to exercise information technology themselves. Although this is nonetheless a serious situation, if their answers indicate that they don't have a plan, they are probably not in imminent danger of hurting themselves. Take their words as a plea for help and proceed with helping them to become the assistance that they need. Urge them to seek professional help as soon as possible.

If the answers they give y'all pb you to believe they are in immediate danger, don't hesitate to contact the authorities.

You may feel like you volition lose their friendship if you take activeness. Your friend may fifty-fifty tell yous that you lot are betraying them or making them aroused. Just retrieve that yous may permanently lose their friendship if you don't. When they're well once more, they volition cheers.

Showing Back up

At that place are a number of different things yous can do to be a supportive and empathetic friend. The key is to avoid existence judgmental or dismissive of what your friend is feeling.

Speak From the Heart

There are no right or wrong things you can say if yous are speaking out of dearest and concern. Just be yourself. Bear witness that you lot care by talking to them, property them while they weep, or whatsoever else is necessary. Research has shown that acknowledging what people are experiencing may help them procedure their thoughts and may reduce their suicidal thoughts.

Listen

A suicidal person unremarkably is carrying around some burden that they experience they just can't handle anymore. Offer to listen as they share their feelings of despair, anger, and loneliness. Sometimes this is enough to lighten the load just plenty for them to carry on.

Validate & Show Openness

Be sympathetic, non-judgmental, patient, calm, and accepting. The person will option upwardly on your attitude and brainstorm to mirror it for themselves.

Continue Them Talking

Talking will allow them to reduce the emotional brunt they are carrying and requite them fourth dimension to calm down. The longer y'all go along them talking, the more you tin have the border off their desperation. As their momentum winds down, it'due south harder for them to act on their feelings.

Avoid Trying to Solve the Problem

Try not to offer quick solutions or belittle the person's feelings. How big they perceive the problem to be and how much they are hurting over information technology is what counts. Rational arguments exercise little proficient to persuade a person when they are in this state of mind. Instead, offer your empathy and compassion for what they are feeling without making any judgments virtually whether they should feel that way.

Take Care of Yourself

Dealing with a suicide threat is very stressful. Be sure to care for yourself as well and seek assistance to process and decompress afterward. Talk to a trusted friend, a therapist, your medico, a religious leader, or anyone who can offer support for what you've been through and how y'all experience near it.

Seeking Emergency Help

If the person has already started a suicide attempt, call for assistance immediately. If they are however conscious, get what data you tin can well-nigh any substances they have ingested, how long ago they took them, how much they took, when they terminal ate, and their general state of wellness.

If you are in a situation, such as an online friendship, where you know very piffling about the person, encourage them to call 911 on their own or to call a suicide hotline in their area. This is your best pick, considering a local agency, such every bit 911 or a hotline, may be able to trace the call and get assistance to them.

If they refuse to call, exercise your best to learn whatever personal information you can about the person. Don't hesitate to inquire them for their address, phone number, and other data to help dispatch an emergency crew to their habitation.

A Word From Verywell

Supporting a friend or loved ane experiencing suicidal thoughts can be scary and taxing. Do your best to provide support and get help. If, in spite of your attempts to assist, your loved one notwithstanding attempts or completes suicide, don't blame yourself. Remind yourself that you did the best you could with the data you had and seek aid for yourself such equally grief counseling or joining suicide survivor support groups.

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Verywell Mind uses simply loftier-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read our editorial process to learn more most how nosotros fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.

1. Mathias CW, Furr RM, Sheftall AH, Colina-Kapturczak N, Crum P, Dougherty DM. What's the impairment in asking well-nigh suicidal ideation?. Suicide Life Threat Behav. 2012;42(3):341-51. doi:x.1111/j.1943-278X.2012.0095.10

2. Suicide Prevention. National Institute of Mental Wellness.

3. Gould MS, Marrocco FA, Kleinman M, et al. Evaluating iatrogenic risk of youth suicide screening programs: A randomized controlled trial. JAMA. 2005;293(xiii):1635-43. doi:10.1001/jama.293.thirteen.1635

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Source: https://www.verywellmind.com/what-to-do-when-a-friend-is-suicidal-1065472

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