Suicide Helpsheet
It is important to take suicidal remarks and threats seriously. Someone contemplates suicide when they see no ways to find emotional relief, and that relief is what they desperately need. Keep your ears open to people’s cries for help. They may say things like “I’d be better off dead” and then romanticise death with remarks like “if I died then people would love me more”. They may talk about suicide in an lighthearted/joking way, but that doesn’t mean that they haven’t tried to take their life. When you hear things like this do not ignore it. When you hear things like this don’t be afraid, keep calm. Now it’s time to take action.
Step 1: First ask them if they are thinking about suicide. Then on a scale of 1-10 ask them “how much do you want to die?” and “how much do you intend to die?”. Now you can better identify what the main issues are.
Step 2: Find out if they have planned how they will kill themselves. If they have a plan and ways to carry it out you need to take them immediately to the hospital, and if they refuse to go call 911.
Step 3: If the person is in the early stages of planning their suicide talk to them. Ask them why they feel they need to take this very real and very final decision. Ask them to give the two of you time to work through these feelings, together.
Step 4: With the person create a “living plan”, so that they can access it when desperation strikes them. If they find they need more support in those tough times have let them know they can text “connect” to 686868 for a 24 hour crisis line.
Step 5: Lastly you need to notify those that can continue to provide hands on support.
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