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National Suicide Prevention Hotline: 800-273-8255

Archives for December 2020

How and Why The 5 Steps Can Help – Step 5

FOLLOW UP

How – After your initial contact with a person experiencing thoughts of suicide, and after you’ve connected them with the immediate support systems they need, make sure to follow-up with them to see how they’re doing. Leave a message, send a text, or give them a call. The follow-up step is a great graphic be the one to follow uptime to check in with them to see if there is more you are capable of helping with or if there are things you’ve said you would do and haven’t yet had the chance to get done for the person.

Why – This type of contact can continue to increase their feelings of connectedness and share your ongoing support. There is evidence that even a simple form of reaching out, like sending a caring postcard, can potentially reduce their risk for suicide.

Studies have shown a reduction in the number of deaths by suicide when following up was involved with high risk populations after they were discharge from acute care services. Studies have also shown that brief, low cost intervention and supportive, ongoing contact may be an important part of suicide prevention. Please visit our Follow-Up Matters page for more.

How and Why The 5 Steps Can Help – Step 4

HELP THEM CONNECT

How – Helping someone with thoughts of suicide connect with ongoing supports (like the Lifeline, 800-273-8255) can help them establish a safety net for those moments they find themselves in a crisis. Additional components of a safety net might be connecting them with supports and resources in their communities. Explore some of these possible supports with them – are they currently seeing a mental graphic be the one to help them connecthealth professional? Have they in the past? Is this an option for them currently? Are there other mental health resources in the community that can effectively help?

One way to start helping them find ways to connect is to work with them to develop a safety plan. This can include ways for them identify if they start to experience significant, severe thoughts of suicide along with what to do in those crisis moments. A safety plan can also include a list of individuals to contact when a crisis occurs. The My3 app is a safety planning and crisis intervention app that can help develop these supports and is stored conveniently on your smartphone for quick access.

Why – Impact of Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training on the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline found that individuals that called the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline were significantly more likely to feel less depressed, less suicidal, less overwhelmed, and more hopeful by the end of calls handled by Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training-trained counselors. These improvements were linked to ASIST-related counselor interventions, including listening without judgment, exploring reasons for living and creating a network of support.

How and Why The 5 Steps Can Help – Step 3

KEEP THEM SAFE

How – First of all, it’s good for everyone to be on the same page. After the “Ask” step, and you’ve determined suicide is indeed being talked about, it’s important to find out a few things to establish immediate safety. Have they already done anything to try to kill themselves before talking with you? Does the person experiencing thoughts of suicide know how they would kill themselves? Do they have agraphic be the one to keep them safe specific, detailed plan? What’s the timing for their plan? What sort of access to do they have to their planned method?

Why – Knowing the answers to each of these questions can tell us a lot about the imminence and severity of danger the person is in. For instance, the more steps and pieces of a plan that are in place, the higher their severity of risk and their capability to enact their plan might be. Or if they have immediate access to a firearm and are very serious about attempting suicide, then extra steps (like calling the authorities or driving them to an emergency department) might be necessary. The Lifeline can always act as a resource during these moments as well if you aren’t entirely sure what to do next.

The Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health notes that reducing a suicidal person’s access to highly lethal means (or chosen method for a suicide attempt) is an important part of suicide prevention. A number of studies have indicated that when lethal means are made less available or less deadly, suicide rates by that method decline, and frequently suicide rates overall decline. Research also shows that “method substitution” or choosing an alternate method when the original method is restricted, frequently does not happen. The myth “If someone really wants to kill themselves, they’ll find a way to do it” often does not hold true if appropriate safety measures are put into place. The Keep Them Safe step is really about showing support for someone during the times when they have thoughts of suicide by putting time and distance between the person and their chosen method, especially methods that have shown higher lethality (like firearms and medications).

What Can I Do to Be There for My Loved One with Mental Illness?

November 2, 2020 | By Emily Mulligan, via NAMI Blog 

It’s simple. Be there for them.

Treat them like a human being, look them in the eyes, and let them know that their disorders do not define them. Tell them that you love them.

Make them a cup of coffee just the way they like it on the days they can’t remember how to work the coffee machine. Pick up their medication from the pharmacist on the weekends when they can’t get out of bed. Ignore those weeks where they might smell a little “funky” because they haven’t had the energy to shower. Do not judge their eating habits during weeks when they’re using food as a crutch.

If they happen to lash out at you in anger, let it go as best you can, and talk them down to a safer level. Lend them a shoulder to cry on, no matter how tear-stained that shoulder may be. Respect their boundaries and do not expect them to readily tolerate things that make them uncomfortable. Learn their body languages, facial expressions and vocal tones, because it’s different for every person.

Most importantly, do not, and I mean do not, be afraid of them. As difficult as they can be during their worst times, they are almost always more of a threat to themselves more than anyone else. Behind all their symptoms, there is usually a loving, breathing, feeling and sad individual who only wants to be understood like everyone else.

Be kind. Be caring. Be respectful and affectionate, just like you would be with anyone else who you are fond of.

Lastly, this is not to say that you shouldn’t have a backbone while dealing with a sick loved one or that you should simply put up with ugly behaviors and compromising situations from them. At times, you will certainly have to stand your ground and let the other person know that they may be overstepping a certain boundary or making you feel uncomfortable, just like with anyone else.

I also am fully aware that sometimes, for your own mental health and well-being, you may have to step away from a relationship with someone who is struggling. Just know that mental illness can make a person unpredictable at times and that person genuinely may not be in control of themselves during periods of psychosis or deeper levels of certain diagnoses, and they may need your help to get out of that dark pit.

It’s not for everyone. Some people, no matter how understanding or loving they may be, just cannot handle a person who is facing this type of illness. I get it. But if you are that special someone, you can be a beautifully shining beacon in that person’s life.

My name is Emily Mulligan. I am 29 years of age, and I have spent my entire life suffering from severe mental illnesses. As I have gotten older, I have felt the need to share my personal story more and more. I have chosen what I believe to be one of my best pieces to submit, and I hope you all enjoy it.

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If you are having a crisis, please dial 911, or call The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255). Sisters Taking On the Prevention of Suicide does not provide its own crisis hotline nor its own counseling services.

   

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