pic credit: 🌻 Sophs

Sometimes we can be put in this situation, and we don’t know what to do. Below are some suggestions on how to be effective in dealing with the situation.



DO:

• Reach out

• Ask questions

• Show that you care

• Encourage your friend to talk

• Listens without making judgements

• Talk openly about suicide

• Remain calm

• Suggest people you can both turn to

• Know your limits

• Get help

• Act quickly if you think your friend is in danger

DON’T:

• Make your friend’s problem sound unimportant

• Act shocked

• Keep your friend’s suicide plans secret

• Ask your friend to think about how his or her suicide would make others feel

• Try to take any weapon away from your friend

• Leave your friend alone when he or she is in crisis

• Give up hope

Credit: The Power to Prevent Suicide : A Guide for Teens Helping Teens by Richard E. Nelson, Ph.D., and Judith C. Galas.

background photo credit: Gerrit Vermeulen on Unsplash.