How can I stop someone from committing suicide?

Here are a variety of suggestions that may avert a person with serious mental illness (SMI) from committing suicide:
 

• Call or contact the person's mental health professional immediately and advise them of the urgency of the situation.
• Call your local Crisis Line telephone number if one exists. This is often to be found in the front of the telephone book.
• Ask a close friend of the person in crisis to come and talk with their friend.
• Stay with the person.
• Get a promise not to use alcohol or drugs if these are a factor.
• Give hope: talk about alleviating his/her problems; attempt to ease loneliness and pain; listen rather than talk, using the tips for listening below:
• Do not judge, just listen carefully
• Avoid inserting your own opinions
• Focus on what the other is saying
• Ask questions that involve their thinking and feeling
• Let the other person direct the conversation
• Try to understand the person's perspective, see their point of view
• Keep your focus on the other person and what they are saying
• Actively encourage the person to talk through verbal and non-verbal cues
• Reflect on the essence of what has been said
• If the person has tried suicide before ask how they got through it and what happened subsequently.
• With the person's permission link them to their mental health professional(s): case worker; mental health clinic; family doctor/psychiatrist, as soon as possible.
• Talk about the protective factors: a relative or pet that depends on them.

Draw up a plan, both for the person and for yourself, based on your conversations. Write it down. If it seems appropriate, get the person to write a plan as well. The plans should be signed. The action of writing it is like a contract and may help to avoid any self harm. Keep it simple. The plan(s) will contain:

• Delaying action to give time for the person to reconsider.
• An agreement by the person to certain actions they will take to delay going through with suicidal action.
• Any other material that is relevant to the specific situation (e.g., removal of weapon, keys, etc.)
• Follow up on the plan with regular contact from the family and friends' network that you have developed previously.
• Remove any means of suicide; do this with the person as a sign of their commitment not to attempt suicide that night.