Feeling suicidal?
If you are feeling suicidal the most important thing you can do is to talk to someone. You needn’t cope alone.
- Talk to family or friends
Just talking to a family member, a friend or a colleague can bring huge relief - Talk to a doctor or counsellor
- Talk to a Samaritan
The Samaritans are always available. Some people cannot talk to family or friends. Some find it easier to talk to a confidential stranger.
Supporting someone in Crisis?
Stay with them, be quiet and listen!
If someone is feeling depressed or suicidal, often people’s first response is to try to offer advice and solutions. We’d do better to be quiet and listen. People who feel suicidal don’t want answers or solutions. They want a safe place to express their fears and anxieties, to be themselves.
Listening – really listening – is not easy. We must control the urge to say something – to make a comment, add to a story or offer advice. We need to listen not just to the facts that the person is telling us but to how we are being told them, so that we can understand the feelings that lie behind them. We need to understand things from their perspective, not ours.
If you think the person is in immediate danger do not leave them alone.
For further information about depression and suicide in New Zealand see the following links:
Suicide Prevention Information New Zealand
Mental Health Foundation
Depression.org.nz
Ministry of Health – Suicide Prevention
MindNet
United Kingdom Samaritans