How to help someone who is suicidal

What science tells us about suicide prevention. #WorldMentalHealthDay

If you or someone you know needs help immediately, you should take one of the following actions:
- call 9-1-1 (or your country's emergency number)
- call the Lifeline at 1-800-273 TALK (8255) (global numbers are below)
- text START to 741-741 (in the United States)
- go to your nearest hospital emergency room



THE PSYCH SHOW! Weekly adventures in psychology, the brain, and behavioral sciences with Dr. Ali Mattu!

[capsfox]

Thanks for this. As someone who spent a good stretch of time really thinking about suicide, it's good to have these refreshers about the steps to take when I see it in myself or others.

[divergence_tiffanyramos]

I've had 5 family members commit suicide. My Grandfather, Mother, Uncle, and two Cousin's. Each family member took their own life in a different way. I dealt with and handled each death differently from the others. I've tried to seek out support groups, programs, and organizations that could help those of us who have had a loved who has taken their life. There's little to no information on how to understand or cope when you lose someone through means of suicide. There's definitely nothing out there on how to deal with losing five members of your family taking their own life. In all honesty the number of family members would be higher if a few more of my family would've been successful in their attempts. Dealing with the deaths and the attempts are a reality in my everyday life. I would benefit greatly if I could find a place, group, or individual that could offer some type of understanding or grief support. I live in a rural area, but I would drive 100 miles or more if I knew it would help. I'd really like to gain an understanding. I do know that when I gain some insight about dealing with the loss of a family member through suicide I would like to start a support group in the future so people like myself have a place to go so they can share their feelings, gain an understanding, and heal. Why are there no services for for individuals who have lost loved one's through suicide? There's got to something right?

[min_hyuk]

I was hospitalized for a week back in college because I had a panic attack and my school LMFT was concerned for my safety. I had a lot happen in my life, and been through a lot. But I am seeing a therapist every week to talk about issues that are present. Thanks Dr. Ali for the informational videos. Big fan btw :D

[AT_BASE]

drugs and alcohol got me out of my suicidal mentality. There's no way to remove every object that someone might use to kill themselves.
Outright asking someone if they're suicidal is too huge a step. Be a friend if you care, if you don't care enough you have to realize you'll probably lose your patience with a person in a mentality like that and you'l probably give up and make them feel worse. If you do care enough, get them out of the house, invite them out, don't talk about it, let them be ready to open up and let them when they do. When they do, don't talk in motivational facebook meme quotes, don't tell them everything will be ok, don't talk about how great life is, because they don't have that perspective and they'll feel more alienated from a "normal" person's mentality. Just hear them out, try to understand.
And then remember they are a person, not a mental disorder, let them find their own solutions. Having just one person there, caring enough about them is huge. Don't push them to find solutions. Encourage them to find solutions and motivation, yes, absolutely. But don't make them feel like they're being forced, that'll feel like you're adding more stress to their lives, which feels terrible in that state. Just make their life seem hopeful enough so they find the solutions they feel they need.
Professional help isn't the end all beat all. Don't drop them off at an emergency room. Therapy did nothing for me when i knew leaving the office I was leaving to the same routine.

[TherapistTamaraHill]

We certainly can't forget about trauma as a risk factor or trigger to a suicidal thought.
Untreated mental illnesses can also trigger suicidal behaviors.
We definitely need more videos so thank you for starting discussion.

[Morphick]

Love the new set up. Looking forward to more vids!

[GetPsyched]

A really great and comprehensive video here on what is important to understand about suicide prevention, thanks for this.

I think that once suicide awareness and courage of people to discuss suicide is commonplace in society, we will begin to see reductions.

Its a growing issue and one we still dont fully appretiate, so your video is vital. Thanks Ali.

[Alexa_ChinoPacasObssesed]

My friend keeps telling me “I wanna kms.” Or “am gonna hang my self.” she’s not joking she’s being for real. It’s really sad to me. I don’t know how to help her. what should I do?

[williambudihardjo]

Hi! I have been noticing that the frequency and the duration of your content is decreasing quite rapidly. Could you please make more videos? Thank you!

[TimeHandler]

I have been having this kind of intense stress for about the past 4 years, and i've been a pretty miserable guy for all of those 4 years but recently, for like the past 2-3 months the stress has been growing very quickly to the point where i feel drained by 12 in the afternoon, but cannot sleep EVER, literally i might get 3 hours of sleep if im lucky and then the next day feel super tired all day with unrelenting stressful people around me with NO ESCAPE because i have no job, because i have no people skills, no diagnosis, no confidence and there doesnt seem to be an obvious way to gain any, i mean if i have a conversation with anyone, it IS awkward for BOTH parties, im not anxious, i just do not fit in and there is nothing i can do, i've tried pretending that im actually someone who thinks totally different to me and it just lead me straight back here, because i have no control over my anger, i never get violent, but the anger just builds and builds and builds, and i feel alot, but in my heart i know i would never hurt anyone except for myself, because the anger isn't about them i dont think it's about me not being a part of anything, EVER. i see an activity and if i like it, i suck at it, or for example when i wanted to play football when i was very young, everyone else was already far better because their dads had been teaching them how to play, so i was always belittled and made fun of because i was so far behind everyone else, i gave up pretty quickly, but this kind of scenerio played out time and time again where it just seemed like i was late to the party everywhere i went. At school i was always a faller behinder, i got distracted, but my strict upbringing and seemingly natural magnetism to rulebreaking lead to me having magnificent ability to lie on the spot convincingly, combined with the fact that i was always very scared of being told off, as it happened so rarely but the aftermath seemed to span over months, furthermore combine with the seemingly endless stream of supply teachers that i had through most of secondary school, meant that i would fall behind, teachers would ask me where all my work was, i would lie that i had done the work already, but it was somewhere else, knowing that the teacher wouldn't be here to check next week and nothing would probably come of it (this became habit) and i began to get away with just doing none of the work at school and learning whatever i wanted or doing whatever i wanted in the meantime, and now my head is filled with all the things i wanted to know growing up, but they were all so odd, that i think if anything they've put me at a disadvantage, at around the last year of secondary school all my teachers cottoned on to what i had been doing the ENTIRE secondary school period, and they and my parents were not happy, my last year of school was hell on earth, my parents didnt really like me very much, bullied, unpopular, not even a few friends (most of the time, i had dick-friends who would occasionally join in with the bullies and just expect me to forget about it after - which i did, because i had no-where else to go except off on my own, which i did quite chaos ensued, i chose that i'd learn carpentry (which was totally just NOT me at the time, which was why i chose it i think), which i later found that i found absolutely mind-numbing even just for 40 minutes, i got the highest possible mark for carpentry as i was "amazingly talented", but i really hated it, and then as a job, i worked with a bunch of different tradesmen and they all seemed to just totally not get on with me, like they thought i was weird, it wasnt that i was scared that i stopped going, he ended up firing me because i was so quiet i think because i did ALL the work to a very high standard and was always on time, but i get so stressed out in conversations because i cannot follow the flow of the talk if it is EVEN SLIGHTLY boring i start thinking about 10 other things. I am not exactly looking for a diagnosis although one may help, im more just throwing my story out there just in hopes, that someone can help me come up with a plan, i dont wanna sink, i wanna swim but it's like i just dont get how to swim, like peoples idle chit chat, i wanna be a part of that, but i literally HAVE NEVER been a part of a SINGLE like, chit and it just seems hopeless now, like who cares about the 23 year old weird guy with no job who always ends up talking about how the thing that they were talking with me about is actually a big lie and is going to collapse, and then being right about it doesnt even bring them around, like im SERIOUSLY good at predictions, often, ill get things right and have witnesses, but no one cares, even if i bring it up again it's like "oh yeah shit man thats awesome xD", i feel like i've been in the wrong conversations and if i did better in school or got medicated or whatever i could have been alright, but at the moment it feels like im past the point of no return, even though im young, my life in 5 years will more miserable than it is now, and get worse and worse until i eventually die. i just dont see the point anymore. ideas? (sorry if that came over incoherent but im bad at getting the message across alot of the time, hopefully there is someone out there smart enough and patient enough to help me)

[areamusicale]

well, I feel suicidal almost everyday and I don't have any friend to talk about with ... i just don't don't know how to kill myself in a quick and and painless way. I I strangle myself sometimes and ... that's actually a relief.
The funniest thing I do in my life is watching YouTube videos and ... pretty much that's it.
And, at the age of 40 I just don't have interest to talk about it to a stranger, still, it is extremely reliefing commenting about my feelings in such anonymous way. It's all about letting it out, not getting attention.

[Alex-csws]

get a pet, a cat, a dog.
So you will know that you are not alone in this world
And four-legged friends will calm you down
It helps.

[MrRobertFarr]

I am viewer 6667. You could not make up these statistics!