September is suicide awareness month. The purpose of this month is to just make it easier to talk about suicide. If people can’t talk about it, they just wallow in their darkness and are left to fall by their demise. As a community, we need to come together and help each other make it through another day. Here are some suicide prevention tips that may be able to help you do that.

While posting on social media what a crisis hotline number is a great thing to do, we may need to try a bit harder when it comes to our loved ones. Many people who are drowning in their own mental turmoil are very unlikely to use this information when they really need it.

This is where you, the loved one, comes in. There are things you can do to help your loved one. You aren’t a professional therapist (well, you might be) so you aren’t the answer to all of their problems to help them work through their issues. But you are someone who can be a pillar of strength when they are at their worst.

1. Listen

Human beings are problem solvers; it is in our nature. How else would someone be able to capitalize on games that are simply sliding candy over in the right direction to make a cool effect? But when someone with depression and suicidal thoughts come to you, they may not be wanting you to solve their problems.

What you should do first and foremost is just listen. This is something people need. No advice, no telling them what they should do. Just listen. Let them pour their heart out to you and when they do ask for advice, that is when you can unload on some wisdom. If you need some tips on how to talk to your loved one who is thinking about suicide, check out this article.

2. Ask

If your loved one seems a bit off, more so than usual, ask how they are doing. Make sure they are okay. Tell them you noticed something was bothering them and let them know you are there for them if they need you. And if they start to open up, they can start giving you red flags that indicate they are thinking of suicide.

If your loved one knows when they would do it, how they would do it, and have the means to do so, these suicidal thoughts might be becoming more of a reality for them. You may need to get rid of excuse they have for not seeking help like time, transportation, or motivation. You may also just need to go ahead and call a crisis center for them.

3. Be Sure

Some hospitals are great and have activities for people to do to help with their cognitive abilities and are kept in a safe room and aren’t allowed near anything that could hurt them. While other hospitals will put them in the same room as people, who have much more drastic mental health issues that can make their stay terrifying and uncomfortable making the entire trip worthless. In facilities like this, many people will lie their way through just to get out. If you feel that they are going to harm themselves, you need to be certain you are sending them to the right place.

There are also outpatient programs that your loved one can participate in that may help them. Being stuck in a hospital can feel like jail and may not work for them in the wrong facility. But if they are at a point where they will use anything to end their life, inpatient programs are one of the best ways to keep them under surveillance as they try to recover to make sure that they live through the experience.

4. Be Compassionate

You might be angry that they would even think of ending their life. But keep in mind they don’t want their life to end; they just want the pain to stop. If they are resistant to getting treatment and they refuse to go to a crisis center, there are ways that you can go around that to keep them safe. But in no way should you use it as a threat. This may just cause them to start plotting in privacy not letting you in to stop it.

Suicide Isn’t Easy For Anyone To Talk About

If you are too overbearing, you can scare people away. If you keep your distance, you give people room to do the unthinkable. There is a very fine line to balance on when it comes to helping people who are thinking of suicide. The best thing we can do as a society to help people is make it easier to talk about, make help available, and stop demonizing people who already feel like they are the worst person on the planet. Compassion can go a long way, let’s try and use it.

Have you struggled with a suicidal episode? What has a loved one done for you that really helped pull you out of your darkness? We would love to hear about it in the comment section.