While suicide is not entirely preventable, there are many ways to reduce the number of suicides. This includes reducing access to lethal means, teaching warning signs and helping people get help.
It’s also important to avoid sensationalizing suicide statistics and how someone died. It’s also best to discuss suicide prevention with a mental health professional.
Identifying people at risk
Suicide kills one person every 11 minutes. People of all ages, backgrounds, and genders are at risk. It affects those who feel happy and expressively well as much as those who are depressed.
There are some groups of people who experience higher rates of suicide and suicide attempts than others do, called health disparities. These include veterans, those who live in rural areas, and lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people.
The risk of suicide is elevated when a person is thinking about it, planning to kill themselves, or taking actions toward suicide, like writing a will or saying goodbye to family and friends. These are called warning signs.
Those who are at high risk of suicide can be identified by asking some questions. The questions are simple and don’t require any special mental health training to ask. People who answer yes to these questions need immediate help. This may include a referral to a mental health provider.
Teaching warning signs
Suicide is rarely a spontaneous decision, and people who kill themselves often show warning signs in the days and hours before they take their lives. These include changes in behavior, feelings and beliefs that are out of the person’s usual patterns, e.g., a sudden change in sleep habits or a new interest in death or suicide.
Many of these warning signs can be seen by anyone who observes the person. Teaching people about them can help increase their ability to identify them and act when they’re at risk of killing themselves. It can also help them understand that any talk of suicide should be taken seriously and not trivialized.
Many suicides are caused by psychiatric conditions that are treatable. Reducing access to lethal means of suicide and promoting education about treatment options can help prevent these deaths. Gatekeeper training (training for people who can reach a person in crisis, such as family members, teachers and military commanders) is another important strategy for suicide prevention.
Helping people get help
Suicide prevention strategies can be used at the individual, community and system levels. Strategies at the individual level include counseling and psychotherapy, reducing access to lethal means (e.g., by educating people who have thoughts of suicide about safe storage of medications and firearms), and increasing the ability of health and social services to respond to crisis.
A national effort to prevent suicide requires a broad-based approach that includes research, education and advocacy. Education initiatives include promoting the Zero Suicide model for health care systems, teaching warning signs and addressing the stigma associated with mental illness.
Supporting those who have experienced a suicide loss or attempt is also important. Helping them learn coping skills and find a path to recovery can prevent recurrence of suicidal thoughts. Other effective interventions include:
Keeping people safe
If someone is telling you they are thinking about suicide, it is important to take their words seriously. Even if they aren’t planning on acting on their thoughts, their words may indicate that they have other options and need help. You can offer support by taking them to a crisis service, helping to remove access to lethal means or allowing them to stay with you until the crisis passes.
Many brief interventions have been shown to be effective at reducing suicidal risk and helping people live through high-risk periods. These include Safety Planning Intervention, Lethal Means Counseling and Crisis Response Planning.
Research has also found that connection to others is a protective factor against suicide. It is therefore important to foster connections through social programs tailored to specific population groups and providing opportunities for community engagement. These programs can also help to build life skills, such as critical thinking and stress management. They can also help to increase resilience, which is the ability to adapt and reframe experiences as positive ones.