Saving someones life?

[Misha]

If the suicide thing comes up again I'll take care of it.

Very sorry, but that's like saying you'll buy insurance if the house burns down.

 

[Halo]

Well Michelle I would tend to agree more with TSOW's advice where if I were ST I would arm myself with some information and crisis numbers in the event that it is needed in the future with this friend. Maybe it will be and maybe not. By your post your assuming that it will be and well to be honest we do not know ST's friend only he does.

Maybe another way of looking at it would be if there is another scare of the house burning down then I will buy insurance ??

 

[Misha]

Yes I understand that we do not know the situation. I am just sick of not being taken seriously when I am suicidal.... and sometimes I act on it and survive by a miracle and not intervention, and other times I just have to tough it out.
When is enough crying for help enough?

 

[Superiority Tails]

I hope he doesn't commit suicide. I just don't want to be hard on him.

 

[Into The Light]

if you are seriously concerned about him, i would suggest you try to get him to commit to calling you first before he takes any action on taking his own life. then if he's in crisis, at least you'll know about it and you can take further steps to help him. have a plan ready for yourself up front what you would do if he called you and write it out, so that if/when the time comes, you know what to do.

 

[David Baxter PhD]

When is enough crying for help enough?

Perhaps you're asking the wrong people. But in any case, attempting suicide because someone isn't listening to you seems like just a bad plan to me.

i would suggest you try to get him to commit to calling you first before he takes any action on taking his own life

Or give him the information re: crisis lines now and try to get him to commit to calling them - and not waiting until he's once again actively suicidal.

 

[Superiority Tails]

Thanks everyone.

 

[healthbound]

Superiority Tails...Is the person you are concerned about related to you, a co-worker, a friend...?? And how you are doing through all of this???

Quote:
Originally Posted by BBC
i would suggest you try to get him to commit to calling you first before he takes any action on taking his own life.

I made my sister promise to call me before attempting again. She kept her promise and called me, but still did it anyway. Immediately after we hung up, I drove to her, but was too late.

People absolutely can make a difference and impact another person's decision to take their own life (ESPECIALLY if the person is reaching out!!!), but I think it's equally important to hook the suicidal person up with professionals who are trained to deal with this.

What did you mean when you wrote,

Originally Posted by Superiority Tails
If the suicide thing comes up again I'll take care of it.

After reading how people responded, it looks like you meant that you wouldn't bring suicide up again unless He brings it up again. Is that correct or did you mean something else?

 

[Superiority Tails]

I'm just waiting for him to get better and I would reather him to bring it up then me. He's going through this and I don't want to bother him.

 

[Into The Light]

ST, it's hard to bring up feeling suicidal. he might worry you don't want to hear about it, and keep it to himself. you could gently ask him if he's still having those kinds of thoughts. is he on medication? is he seeing a therapist? those are the things that would help make those thoughts less. if he is not on medication and getting counseling, then i highly doubt the thoughts are going away.

i think it is important you let him know that he can talk to you about feeling suicidal. if you don't talk about it anymore, he may feel it's a taboo subject with you.

 

[Superiority Tails]

I'll talk to him about it. I hope everything goes well.

 

[Retired]

ST,

as baseballcap mentions talking about suicide is not an easy subject, especially if you as a caring fiend want to bring it up and you are not accustomed to discussing suicide.

Here's one way such a conversation might get started,

"You know I care about you as a friend, and lately I've noticed that you have been doing x, y and z. You know sometimes people who do these things might be having thoughts of suicide. Are you having thoughts of suicide?"

Don't be afraid of using the word suicide in your conversation, because you want to be clear about what you are talking about. If you're going to have this conversation you need to be prepared with resources such as suicide help line contact information, and be ready to hear your friend say, "yes, I've been thinking of suicide".

Don't talk about hurting yourself or any other unclear language.

Another option would be to call a suicide help line yourself, and talk to a local counselor to find out what's the best way to help your friend in your community.

 

[Superiority Tails]

Thanks. This will be very useful.

 

[^^Phoenix^^]

Also ST

As previously said, talking about it can be really scarey. Their may be loooong gaps in conversation when he/she says nothing. You may just need to sit and wait, as phrasing certain feelings of this nature is very hard. The tendancy to feel stupid, annoying and a whole lot of other negetive feelings are probably haunting your friend, and the internal arguements may be so loud that they take time to clarify before being able to be spoken to you.

I hope this makes sense. Just remember, time and understanding is what they need. Hope it goes, (Or has gone) well.

 

[Superiority Tails]

Thank you Phoenix.