Helping a Suicidal Person: You Can Do It!

Whew! 

Earlier today, a friend of mine posted a message on Facebook, saying that a Facebook friend of his was probably considering suicide and asking for advice about how to respond. 

My friend added that:

1.  he had set the permission on his post so that his friend couldn't see it, and 

2.  he himself would be indisposed for some unspecified number of hours, and he would be back online after that.

"Hmm...," I thought. "What to do?"

So I took a moment or two to collect my thoughts. 

I thought about everything that I learned from eight years of experience, (as first a volunteer and then as staff at a crisis hotline...

... and then I proceeded to share a fair bit of advice, information, etc.

... in a series of comments...

... comments which I posted, by the way, immediately after other comments which other people had already posted, in reply to my friend's question.

It Was Not, Mind You, Anything Close... 

... to my preferred means of communication about such matters. 

At any rate, what's posted is posted, and my friend replied that he appreciated the responses and found them helpful.

Now That At Least Some of My Mental Dust Has Settled...

I'm wondering:.

Has anyone ever communicated to you, whether in a roundabout way or in just those very words, "I'm thinking about killing myself"? 

If so, what did you do?

If a friend, or a relative, or someone else whom you knew, or even a stranger...

... said to you today (in effect)...

..."I'm thinking about killing myself." ...

... what do you think you'd do?

For Information About What You Can Do to Help a Suicidal Person

If and whenever someone says to you (in effect) "I'm thinking about killing myself," know that there are concrete steps that you can take to respond to that person.

There are specific steps that you can take that can both help that person and (not so unimportantly) help you feel more confident in your ability to help that person.    

To find out exactly what you can do to help a suicidal person:

1.  Go to http://suicidehotlines.com/national.html

2.  Scroll down toward the very bottom of the page. 

3.  Click on the heading "Helping a Suicidal Person"

Paul