How would you treat a person who has threatened to commit suicide?

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   Anjiliposted 13 years ago

   How would you treat a person who has threatened to commit suicide?

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   TheLifeExperimentposted 13 years ago

   They don't need treatment yet, they need help. Call a suicide hotline, make sure they aren't alone, and just talk to them. Most likely they feel alone and sad, and just having someone to talk to will help. If they do have a more deep mental disorder like severe depression, they will need to either get therapy, a prescription, or both. What matters now is that you make sure they aren't serious, even if that means staying with them for a long time.

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3. 61

   teamrnposted 13 years ago

   How I would handle the situation would differ if i were with the person (actually on the premises); or if this was a telephone call. I would do my best to 'talk them down,' kind of difficult to do if you're not on the premises.
   
   The safety of the person is tantamount. If you have them on the phone, somehow contact a neighbor (flag them down, if you live in an apartment building, grab someone in the hall) and write down your concerns, NEVER letting the other individual off the line.
   
   Ask the neighbor to contact 911 (better yet, write it down on a piece of paper or a napkin); the people at 911 are trained to deal with this.
   
   Therapists, physicians, social workers, psychiatrists nurses and other health care professionals.are bound by standards of practice to report these incidents of suicide threats, even if the person says he's 'just joking.'
   
   Citizens should be no different. They are bound by a code of morality. Think always about the safety of the person making the threats and err on the side of caution. This is someone's life at stake.

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      Amber Morrisposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      Very well said.

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      Anjiliposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      A good response. Thanks.

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   Amber Morrisposted 13 years ago

   I have suffered from chronic mental illness for most of my life, and my parents learned very quickly after my first suicide attempt to take whatever threat I voiced seriously. My parents ALWAYS called 911. At least that person is most definitely in a safe place where they can see the ER doctor, and a mental health professional who talks with them and determines how "at risk" they are. Calling 911 may be extreme, but it is the "always better to be safe than sorry" approach.

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   Faith Reaperposted 13 years ago

   Know that it is a very serious situation and do not dismiss it no matter what.  Never leave the person alone.  Listen to what the person has to say, if anything.  Just talk to the person honestly.  Make sure the person gets the help he or she needs right away.  Do not delay in getting this person help.  Ask the person would he or she like for you to pray with them.  If not, just pray to yourself, during the time the person is not wanting to talk.

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   padmendraposted 13 years ago

   A proper counselling is advisable . Besides digging out the cause of this  tendency  in such person(s)  is  essential. In most of the cases we have seen that introverted people  were  found to be taking step of committing suicide when they failed to get their wishes fulfilled or when they had  a broken heart syndrome. The best way to  deal  them is that they should be given proper  family support,,  good atmoshphere and should not be left alone.

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   jeanniedoeposted 13 years ago

   Dealing with the person who attempted to commit suicide is a serious matter especially if you don't have enough skills in a given situation. The best thing to do is to call 911 and ask assistance from them.

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   nightwork4posted 13 years ago

   it depends on why to me. if it is just because they are feeling sorry for themselves, i'd tell them to have fun and i have done this. if it is because of reason's i think are justified, i would do everything i can to help them get their lives back together.

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      teamrnposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      "it depends on why to me" I don't know about you, Night, but I don't feel qualified to determine the WHY. I think we have to consider EVERY threat of suicide as real-until proven otherwise. What if we make the wrong call, if help is being asked for?

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   swordsbaneposted 13 years ago

   Someone who is determined to commit suicide will do so, and will do so in such a way that no one finds out about it until it's too late.  You can't help them.  They've made their choice.  Everyone else... EVERYONE else is looking for attention, and is waiting to see what the people in their lives do when they tell them what they are contemplating.  What you do and say will determine whether they decide to go through with it or not.
   
   Take them seriously and listen to them.  Listen to them until they want to stop talking, even if it takes minutes, hours or days.  Listen to them and try to get them to say more.  Talking helps, and if they think someone truly cares about how they feel, what they think and what happens to them then maybe... just maybe.. they won't go through with it.
   
   The seriousness of this cannot be overblown.  If they're down to threatening suicide, even if they aren't really serious, then you are playing catch up and whatever their problems are, you won't solve them right away, even if you are a trained psychologist.  If you understand this, then you have three tasks: Make them understand it, make them believe that their problems CAN be solved, and give them a reason to try.
   
   Basically, if someone tells you they are going to commit suicide, then you just became their life-line.  They came to you for a reason, and that reason could be the way you turn them around.  Either you are the source of their problems (in their mind at least), or you are the only thing keeping them alive.  Either way.... sucks to be you.

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