Preventing suicide requires action at the individual, system and community level. This includes reducing access to lethal means, teaching life skills and building resilience to increase hopefulness.
When someone you care about exhibits warning signs, be proactive by asking them how they’re doing and offering support. Continual support is critical over the long haul.
1. Know the Warning Signs
Suicide is a complex issue and can affect people of all ages. However, certain people may be more at risk. These include those with a history of suicide attempts or who have a mental health condition, like depression.
It’s important to know the warning signs and how to recognize them. This can help you identify when someone you know is struggling and get them the help they need.
Many young people who have thoughts of suicide let their friends and family know they’re having them, and are open about asking for help. But some don’t talk about it, or hide their feelings from those closest to them. Talking about suicidal feelings isn’t easy, but it can be lifesaving. Visit Conversations Matter for tips on how to have the talk.
2. Talk to Someone
It is important to talk to someone who is showing warning signs, even if you are not sure they are at risk for suicide. People who are at risk for suicide often do not believe they can be helped, and even if they deny that they are thinking of killing themselves, it is important to take any expressed thoughts seriously.
Ask if they have any plans or ideas about how they might kill themselves, and whether they have access to lethal objects. This is a difficult conversation to have, but one that needs to be had.
Help them connect with resources for professional help, including the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline (call or text 988) and other community support services. Research shows that supportive, ongoing contact can help reduce suicide rates.
3. Reach Out for Help
Increasing someone’s connectedness to others (a key component of Thomas Joiner’s Interpersonal-Psychological Theory of Suicide) and helping them find help are important interventions that lower suicide risk. This may include promoting self-help tools, lowering barriers to help-seeking, and making services more accessible and culturally appropriate.
It’s also important to make a safety plan with the person at risk. This can include writing down social activities, places, and people that provide a distraction when thoughts of suicide arise, as well as identifying individuals who can help in a crisis.
You can also help them connect with 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline (call or text 988) and local mental health resources that offer a sliding fee scale.
4. Make a Safety Plan
A safety plan can help someone get safely through times of crisis. They can be made up of coping strategies, people they can talk to about their crisis and ways to reduce access to lethal items like guns or knives. Safety Plans are best created when the person is not in a crisis and should be reviewed regularly for updates.
Safety Plans should include identifying warning signs and how to respond to them, a list of professionals or agencies to contact for support, and ways to make the environment safer by removing weapons from the home and limiting access to sharp objects. They can also be used to identify reasons for living.
It is important that they are personalized for the individual and that the person creates them with the help of a professional. This process better promotes acceptance and adherence of the plan.
5. Remove or Lock Up Lethal Items
Family members, friends and health care providers can help reduce access to lethal means by removing or locking up items that could be used for suicide. These are often referred to as “means restriction” interventions. (Means restriction has a robust evidence base and is one of the most effective strategies to prevent suicide deaths.)
Firearms are a common method of suicide among youth and are almost always fatal. Safely storing guns and ammunition in a gun safe or lock box with a cable lock can significantly lower risk. Similarly, reducing or eliminating access to over-the-counter and prescription pills that are highly toxic in high doses can decrease suicide attempts.
For those who live in areas with bridges, other places where people hang themselves or jump from tall places, putting barriers or other measures between them and the site can also save lives.