Last Updated on April 28, 2023

Your good buddy has been in a deep depression for weeks. Suddenly he is talking about buying a firearm and playing Russian roulette. What do you need to do?

First, do not take his remarks lightly. Studies reveal that 75 percent of people who commit suicide first talk about it, while some people commit suicide without verbal caution. Your loved one mightn’t come right out and say, “I am a suicide risk. I presume I might kill myself.” But he may suggest at his aims with such doomsday statements as “I have no reason to live” or “I don’t have a purpose in life.” Where he sees no other options, he may be at a juncture.

Signs of Severe Depression and Suicide Risk

Everyone gets sad on occasion, plus some may even be clinically depressed, especially following a major loss. But melancholy that lasts or disrupts daily life may necessitate professional help.

Indications of acute depression and suicide risk may include:

• Extreme irritability
• Sustained lack of curiosity about physical health
• Dangerous behaviours like excessive drinking or violent drug use
• Uncontrolled fury or extreme wrath
• Persistent hopelessness
• Expressing constant sadness or emptiness
• Hostility
• Isolation and withdrawal
• Sleep disruptions, either constantly sleep or having trouble sleeping
• Remarkable mood changes

Signs of Suicidal or Destructive Ideas

The one you love may provide clues that he is contemplating suicide. He might be:

• Trying to find strategies to kill himself with pills or weapons or by other means
• Giving away his or her belongings
• Talking about saying goodbye or going away forever
• Writing, or speaking, more frequently than usual about dying, death, or suicide

Helping to Prevent a Suicide Departure

When you encounter someone else ‘s suicidal despair you might feel helpless. And yet most suicides

You can not assume complete duty for saving another adult human being from self-destruction. However, you can arm yourself with insight and information. You are able to help your loved one by learning what treatment is available and by gradually encouraging your family member to seek professional help. This could be delicate, requiring several steps:

• Educate yourself before you confront your buddy. Gather suicide hotline numbers. Find out about different treatment options where such treatment can be obtained, and that include counselling and medication. This can take but several minutes and may just require phoning your county mental health facility or the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline (1-800-273-TALK), which has trained disaster workers standing by twenty-four hours a day.
• Set aside quiet, uninterrupted time to talk to your loved one about your anxieties, his behaviors, and what treatment is available to him. Start off by telling your friend which you care about him and that you have been concerned for a while about him.
• Be ready for defensiveness and barriers. Your buddy might see his situation as a sign of weakness. He may be embarrassed that you have detected the behaviours he thought he was concealing. The one you love could possibly be scared to talk openly about his issues for anxiety about others that are troubling. He can be hesitant due to finances or embarrassment to really go for treatment.
• Be gentle but direct during your conversation. Discuss why you concern and special behaviours.
• If he has been considering suicide, ask your buddy instantaneously. By mentioning it, contrary from what you might believe, you’ll not evoke suicide.
• From what your friend needs to express, listen with empathy and regard.
• Do not promise to keep secret what he says. Tell your buddy that it’s important that his feelings are no cause for shame and that he get help.
• Do propose options to suicide, but don’t be judgmental or offer guidance on how to shift behavior.
• Share the resources and data you uncovered. Offer make an appointment at a treatment facility. Afterward offer to really go to the first appointment with him.
• Don’t leave your friend alone if the danger of suicide appears certain; if required phone police.

Supporting a pal or relative via a suicide scare could be hard. You will want your own support system — other buddies and possibly even your own professional counselling.

Your loved one might not be willing, or able, to take action right away. But you can continue by letting him understand you care, and to be a support by listening, by following up with your friend on a regular basis.