Knowing
what to do in a life threatening emergency is extremely important.
Interacting with a suicidal person, can be frightening because
there is a threat to a person's life and because you are the
lone person who is capable of taking immediate action.
A
person at risk for acting on suicidal thoughts may NOT have
attempted suicide previously nor be in the process of actively
attempting suicide, yet there is a serious threat to that
person's life.
These are
not the kinds of situations that people should handle alone.
There is assistance available and getting additional help from
suicide help-lines, mental health clinicians, physicians or
others may help to save a life.
Basic
Steps to take in an emergency (References 1-3)
Do
not be afraid to take action with persons who are suicidal
and perform the following:
Evaluate
the seriousness of the problem
Stay
with persons who are suicidal or make certain that they
have someone with them at all times
Validate
their feelings and be supportive, yet authoritative
Involve
other people in the solution to this emergency when needed
Electronic,
print, and multimedia resources are provided to help you to
find additional authoritative information on What to do in an
emergency. These resources are available from such national
organizations as The National Institute of Mental Health as
well as professional organizations, not-for-profit organizations,
and educational institutions.
Internet
Depression
and Bipolar Support Alliance (DBSA)
The
DBSA is a U.S. not-for-profit organization based out of Chicago
and the nation's largest patient-directed, illness-specific
organization.
The
DBSA provides a Web page titled Responding to an emergency
situation available at the following Web address:
