{"id":279,"date":"2014-08-13T06:30:10","date_gmt":"2014-08-13T06:30:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/locustherapy.com\/askthedoctor\/?p=279"},"modified":"2014-06-27T19:29:26","modified_gmt":"2014-06-27T19:29:26","slug":"what-to-do-when-a-friend-suggests-they-are-considering-suicide","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/locustherapy.com\/askthedoctor\/what-to-do-when-a-friend-suggests-they-are-considering-suicide\/","title":{"rendered":"What To Do When A Friend Suggests They Are Considering Suicide"},"content":{"rendered":"

“As an active DBSA<\/a> member, many of my acquaintances suffer from mood disorders.\u00a0 One of my friends recently mentioned to me that she was considering suicide.\u00a0 As a member of society, as well as a person with a mood disorder, what are my moral obligations in a case like this?\u00a0 I understand what happens if I call the police, but what should I do as a friend?\u00a0 Call the police?\u00a0 Call some mutual friends for support?\u00a0 Or what?”<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Thank you for this most important and thought provoking question.\u00a0 Whenever a family member or friend gives you information to even suggest that they are considering suicide, you cannot help but feel overwhelmed with the disclosure.\u00a0 It can be a very scary time for you.\u00a0 I refer you to an excellent resource, the website for the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention:\u00a0 www.afsp.org<\/a>.\u00a0 This particular site has a wealth of information about suicide. I have taken much of my following answer about suicide recognition, treatment and prevention from the AFSP website<\/a>.<\/p>\n

According to the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, It is important to note that over 90 percent of people who kill themselves are suffering from one or more psychiatric disorders.\u00a0 In fact, between 25 and 50 percent of persons who do kill themselves, have made a previous attempt.\u00a0\u00a0 In other words, those who have made suicide attempts are at a much greater risk for actually taking their own lives.\u00a0 This information offers clues as to the assessment of suicide risk.\u00a0 Does your friend have a psychiatric disorder?\u00a0 Has she made a previous attempt and has she given some warning signs to family or friends?<\/p>\n

With these facts in mind, what can you do to help your acquaintance?<\/p>\n

First of all it is crucial to recognize some of the warning signs of suicide.\u00a0 While some suicides occur without any outward warning, most people who are suicidal do give warnings.\u00a0 Actually, there are a number of warning signs to be particularly tuned into. These warning signs may include a low mood, pessimism, hopelessness, desperation, anxiety, withdrawal, sleep problems, increased substance abuse, recent impulsiveness and taking unnecessary risks, suicide threats or expressing a strong wish to die, giving away prized possessions, sudden purchase of a firearm and obtaining other means such as poisons or medications.<\/p>\n

Since 50 to 75 percent of all suicides give some warning of their intentions to a friend or family member, these signs must be taken seriously.\u00a0 You ask about a \u201cmoral\u201d obligation.\u00a0 If your feelings are to preserve life at all costs, you would probably be aggressive in your reaction.\u00a0 If you believe that a person has a right to take their own life, you would be less concerned about their actions.\u00a0 However, the most important question to be addressed is:\u00a0 What can you do?\u00a0 The most important thing you can do is listen.\u00a0 Tell the person that you are concerned and give her examples from her behavior.\u00a0 Don\u2019t be afraid to ask if she is contemplating suicide.\u00a0 Ask if she has a plan.\u00a0 Ask if she is seeing a psychiatrist for medication and also seeing a therapist.\u00a0 Do not attempt to \u201ctalk her out of it\u201d or tell her \u201chow much she has to live for\u201d or other such platitudes.\u00a0 While it may seem extremely difficult, just listen and let her know she is not alone.<\/p>\n

If the situation is an acute crisis, do not leave her by herself. Remove all firearms, drugs or sharp objects that could be used for suicide.\u00a0 As noted above, take the person to an emergency room or walk-in clinic at a psychiatric hospital.\u00a0 If none of these options are available, call 911 and ask for an officer with mental health training.\u00a0 You might also call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK, or click here <\/a>to be redirected to their website.\u00a0In addition to support, this source can also recommend on-line and in person support groups.<\/p>\n

Finally, it is also imperative that she seek professional help.\u00a0 If she is not in treatment, you can become actively involved in seeking it out.\u00a0 You can be useful to her in finding a knowledgeable mental health professional or a reputable treatment facility.\u00a0 If needed, I encourage you to physically accompany her to treatment.\u00a0 I might also note that friends and family members of persons who have committed suicide are also at risk for psychological difficulties.\u00a0 It is often important for those close to the situation also seek out counseling to deal with the emotions that are stirred by the situation. The DBSA website:\u00a0 www.dbsalliance.org<\/a> includes a referral list of professionals who have been recommended by their patients.\u00a0 This is an excellent place to start.<\/p>\n

~Dr. Manuel\u00a0S. Silverman, PhD<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

“As an active DBSA member, many of my acquaintances suffer from mood disorders.\u00a0 One of my friends recently mentioned to me that she was considering suicide.\u00a0 As a member of\u2026 read more →<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":203,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[84],"tags":[85,75,51,88,86,101,87,64],"class_list":["post-279","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-suicide","tag-american-foundation-for-suicide-prevention","tag-mental-disorder","tag-mental-health","tag-mental-health-professional","tag-national-suicide-prevention-lifeline","tag-suicide","tag-suicide-risk-assessment","tag-support-group"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/locustherapy.com\/askthedoctor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/279","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/locustherapy.com\/askthedoctor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/locustherapy.com\/askthedoctor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/locustherapy.com\/askthedoctor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/locustherapy.com\/askthedoctor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=279"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/locustherapy.com\/askthedoctor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/279\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":304,"href":"https:\/\/locustherapy.com\/askthedoctor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/279\/revisions\/304"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/locustherapy.com\/askthedoctor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/203"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/locustherapy.com\/askthedoctor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=279"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/locustherapy.com\/askthedoctor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=279"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/locustherapy.com\/askthedoctor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=279"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}