Why do people become suicidal?
The idea that someone is feeling suicidal and want to end their life can be a very confronting and difficult concept for many people. It can be very hard to understand why someone has reached the point where they are considering ending their life. People who contemplate suicide are experiencing intense emotional pain, and may...
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Suicide warning signs
A person who is thinking about suicide will usually give some clues or signs to those around them that indicate they are distressed. These are often referred to as suicide warning signs. Suicide prevention starts with recognising these suicide warning signs and taking them seriously. The following is a list of signs that people might...
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When someone you know is suicidal
Learning that someone you care about feels suicidal often marks the beginning of a stressful time. While this news may come as a shock to you, supporting someone through this difficult time is important. There might be part of you that doesn’t want to know any more about it or deal with it. You might...
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Discussing suicide: How to talk to somebody about suicide
Discussing suicide, and talking about suicidal thoughts may seem like a daunting prospect. You will ask yourself, how can I talk to them about it? The information below is designed to help you shape these discussions. People thinking about suicide are usually uncertain about acting on their thoughts of ending their own life. There is...
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Supporting someone to get help
Looking after someone who is suicidal can be a difficult and overwhelming experience, but you do not need to do it alone. There are ways you can get help. After you’ve talked to them about how they’re feeling, the next step is to support them to get help and deal with these feelings, keeping them...
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Looking after yourself
Supporting someone who has suicidal thoughts and behaviour, or who has attempted suicide, takes a lot of time and emotional energy. You may find yourself worried and preoccupied about the person and this can be physically and emotionally exhausting. You may feel a responsibility to keep them safe, which may seem like a significant burden;...
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Helping someone to create a safety plan
Helping someone to make a suicide safety plan can sometimes be helpful for someone suicidal. A suicide safety plan (sometimes called a safety contract) is a verbal agreement given by the person that they won’t harm themselves for a certain period of time. It usually involves a commitment from the person not to harm themselves...
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Relationships and suicide
Ending significant relationships is difficult. In these situations, there can be a great deal of emotion and uncertainty and often the decision to end the relationship is made by one of the partners despite the feelings and commitment of the other. In some situations, the overwhelming nature of the situation can lead to one partner...
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Supporting someone after a suicide attempt
Discovering that someone you care about has tried to end their life can be a devastating experience. They will need supporting. You may initially experience emotions such as shock and denial. Sometimes those close to the suicidal person blame themselves for what has happened, thinking, for example, “if only I’d watched them more closely”. The...
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When someone you know self-harms
Self-harm behaviour describes someone deliberately inflicting injury, pain or damage to their body. What is self-harm? Self-harm is usually neither a suicide attempt nor intended to be fatal but sometimes the outcome results in serious bodily injury or accidental death. There are a number of ways people generally hurt themselves, including: Cutting Burning Taking...
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