Prevent Suicide

Do you or someone you care about need help?

Do you feel Suicidal?

CALL OR TEXT 988 for help.

Free and confidential.

Please get the help you need. You are worth it. There is no shame in needing help. People care and want to help you.

Confidential suicide hotlines and websites will direct you to resources and enable you to talk to a friendly supportive person.

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If you think someone you know is contemplating suicide or feeling hopeless don't wait!

Save a life: How to help someone

Follow these steps:

1) Ask the person directly if they are thinking about killing themselves. Ask if they feel hopeless or if they feel that they are a burden on people. Asking someone if they feel suicidal will not put the idea in their head. It will show them that someone cares enough about them to ask.

Know the signs of suicide below.

2) Listen to them in a calm, non-judgmental way and note any details about how, where, and when the person may be thinking about killing themselves. Be calm and supportive; remember this is NOT ABOUT YOU or how you feel, it is about them. Let them talk while you listen. Just having someone listen can help lift some of the burdens from their shoulders and give them better options. Sometimes all it takes it one person to care. (Note: if they are not talking you may need to talk to them).

3) Make sure their environment is safe. Remove any objects or tools that they may use to hurt themselves such as guns, knives or pills/drugs.

4) Go with the person to get help in person (mental health professional, religious or other counselor if it is meaningful to them) or call a suicide prevention line.

5) Don't keep the person's behavior a secret. It is not shameful to need help. They need to know people care.

6) Don't leave the person thinking about suicide alone. Stay with them until they receive appropriate help.

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You can make a difference

Feeling actively suicidal is usually temporary. Preventing a suicide today has over a 90% chance of saving the person's life long-term.

Suicide can be a temporary or fluid idea (Bryan et al. 2020). The majority of people prevented from taking their own lives go on to live and lead their lives.

Runeson et al. (2016) looked at 34,219 men and women hospitalized for self harm. Only 3.45% later committed suicide.

According to a study by Richard Seiden (1978), over 90% of people prevented from committing suicide go on to live happy lives! He looked 515 people who were stopped by California State Highway Patrol officers from jumping off the Golden Gate Bridge. Only 35 later committed suicide, the others all lived their lives.

A review study by Carroll et al. (2014) found that only 4% of people who attempted suicide went on to successfully commit suicide within five years.

For an excellent article on this topic see The Urge to End it All by Scott Anderson. Your intervention can make a huge difference in someone's life.

Watch Out for the Suicide Warning Signs

Are you or the person you are concerned about feeling:

★Hopeless

★Sad or in a deep depression

★Numb like you don't care about anything

★Anxious and agitated

★Shame, guilt and/or desperation

★That life is not worth living; that there is no purpose to life

★Out of control

★That others would be better off without you

★That you are a burden on others

★Trapped in a situation with no way out

Do you find yourself or someone you care about:

★Withdrawing from friends and others

★Showing a lack of interest in hobbies, pets or friends

★Giving away once valued possessions

★Neglecting personal grooming and hygiene

★Either unable to sleep or sleeping all the time

★Abusing drugs and/or alcohol

★Escaping into electronic media (television, video games, social media)

★Displaying reckless behavior such as dangerous driving or very risky hobbies

★Exhibiting sudden mood swings

★Showing violent rage or uncontrolled anger, hitting or punching inanimate objects like walls

Other signs

Did someone they know or go to school with recently commit suicide?

Know you are valued. People care. Your life has meaning.

• We care enough to make this webpage.

• People care enough to create suicide hot lines.

• Researchers care enough to study how to help you.

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If you feel helpless or just need someone to talk to please call or text a suicide or mental health hotline

Veteran Suicide Prevention

Do you or someone you care about need help?

The suicide rate for rate for military veterans is 1.5 times higher than that of civilians.

The suicide rate of women veterans is 2.5 times that of adult women civilians.

★Over 17 veterans and active duty soldiers commit suicide each day.

★Suicide rate in veterans increased from 23.3 per 100,000 in 2001 to 31.6 per 100,000 in 2019.

★In 2019, the adjusted rates of suicide were 27.5 per 100,000 for veterans and 18.2 per 100,000 for non veteran civilians

★The risk of suicide is greatest within three years after leaving service.

★Over 65% of those committing suicide are over 50 years old.

★Caucasian/white veterans are more likely to commit suicide than African American, Asian or Hispanic veterans.

★Veteran suicides account for 18% of all suicides by USA adults.

★Thousands of other veterans deal with mental help issues such as Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI), Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and depression.

Below: Chris Bailey, Air Force veteran, hangs flags for Veterans Day. If you feel alone consider joining a veteran's organization to talk to people who understand your point of view.

Veterans with Substance Abuse 

Bohnert et al. (2017) reported that veterans with substance abuse disorders (SUDS) are especially vulnerable to suicidal tendencies. Female veterans with SUDS are even more susceptible.

Researchers from the Department of Veterans Affairs and the University of Michigan, tracked 4.4 million veterans for six years. Out of that veteran pool, 8.3% of male veterans and 3.4% of female veterans reported a SUDS as part of their diagnoses. Veterans who reported a SUDS were twice as susceptible to suicide. Female veterans with an addiction were five times more vulnerable than the male veterans.

The most dangerous addictions for suicide risk were prescription sedatives and opioids.

Two-thirds of the suicides involved handguns. Twenty-five percent involved an intentional overdose.

If you feel helpless please call or text a suicide help line

Veterans Crisis Line dial 988 and press 1, text to 838255 or chat online at the link

Stop Soldier Suicide call 844.317.1136

Suicide Prevention Hotline call 988, chat and phone available

If you are worried about a veteran you know please call

Veterans Crisis Line call 988 and press 1, text to 838255 or chat online at the link

Other Resources

Mission 22 Built for veterans by veterans who care.

References:

Bohnert KM, Ilgen MA, Louzon S, McCarthy JF, Katz IR. Substance use disorders and the risk of suicide mortality among men and women in the US Veterans Health Administration. Addiction. 2017 Jul;112(7):1193-1201. doi: 10.1111/add.13774. Summary.

Bryan CJ, Butner JE, May AM, Rugo KF, Harris J, Oakey DN, Rozek DC, Bryan AO. Nonlinear change processes and the emergence of suicidal behavior: a conceptual model based on the fluid vulnerability theory of suicide. New Ideas Psychol. 2020 Apr;57:10.1016/j.newideapsych.2019.100758. doi: 10.1016/j.newideapsych.2019.100758. Full article.

Carroll R, Metcalfe C, Gunnell D. Hospital presenting self-harm and risk of fatal and non-fatal repetition: systematic review and meta-analysis. PLoS One. 2014 Feb 28;9(2):e89944. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0089944. Full article.

https://www.mentalhealth.va.gov/docs/data-sheets/2021/2021-National-Veteran-Suicide-Prevention-Annual-Report-FINAL-9-8-21.pdf 

Runeson B, Haglund A, Lichtenstein P, Tidemalm D. Suicide risk after nonfatal self-harm: a national cohort study, 2000-2008. J Clin Psychiatry. 2016 Feb;77(2):240-6. doi: 10.4088/JCP.14m09453. Full article.

Seiden RH. Where are they now? A follow-up study of suicide attempters from the Golden Gate Bridge. Suicide Life Threat Behav. 1978; 8:203-16. Pubmed.