Child and adolescent mental health services are overstretched and underperforming. Psychiatric services are continually being cut. More must be done. What would I rather happen, I hear you ask. But more must be done. I was discharged on 29 March. My illness was no longer severe enough for me to be in hospital, and discharge was being seriously spoken of before I was transferred.
The weekend before I was due to be discharged I had weekend leave, and I felt positive. All I had to do was be assessed before my discharge, and then I would be free.
I arrived at the hospital, walking around the grounds with an uneasy familiarity. The agonising wait for my assessment to determine whether I could be discharged began.
Hours passed. Finally, in the afternoon, my time came. My consultant gave the all-clear, and I could go home. I was overjoyed but also anxious. I divide my life into pre-hospital and post-hospital — my admission was a liminal moment for me and will remain so for the foreseeable future. I can live a relatively normal life. And, slowly but surely, each time colour begins to seep back into my monochrome world.
Today I strive to start a conversation on mental health with anyone I come across. As the recently passed mental health awareness week has shown, we are capable of talking about mental health. Each conversation about mental health is a hand extended to someone who may otherwise feel isolated and alone.
So today start a conversation. Extend your hand and see who grabs hold. You can get peer support through carer support services or carers groups. You can search for local groups in your area by using a search engine such as Google. Or you can call our advice service on They will search for you. Samaritans The Samaritans give people confidential emotional support. In some areas they have local branches where you can go for support. Telephone : Website : www.
Saneline Work with anyone affected by mental illness, including families, friends and carers. Their helpline is open between pm and They also provide a free text-based support service called Textcare.
And an online supportive forum community where anyone can share their experiences of mental health. But you can call and leave a message and someone will get back to you. The Support Forum, Textcare and other services are operating as normal. Textcare : www. They offer accredited confidential, anonymous and free support, information and signposting to people anywhere in the UK through their helpline and webchat service.
Their helpline is open between 5pm and midnight every day of the year. Telephone : 58 58 58 Webchat : www. They can also support people who are concerned about someone under 35 who might be suicidal. Their helpline is open 9am — midnight every day of the year weekends and Bank Holidays included.
Telephone : 41 41 Text : Email : pat papyrus-uk. Phones are open 7 days a week from 3pm to 12am. You can also webchat to them 7 days a week from 3pm to 12am, however chats may not be connected after pm. Shout can help with urgent issues such as suicidal thoughts, abuse or assault, self-harm, bullying and relationship challenges. Text : Text Shout to Website : www.
Support Line Support line offers confidential emotional support by telephone, email and post. They try to help people find positive ways to cope and feel better about themselves. Telephone : Maytree Maytree is a national registered charity based in London. They provide a unique residential service for people in suicidal crisis so they can talk about their suicidal thoughts and behaviour. They offer a free 4 night, 5 day one-off stay to adults over the age of 18 from across the UK.
Their aim is to provide a safe, confidential, non-medical environment for their guests. Donate Search Menu. About us About us. See our contacts page Looking to contact us? Covid support. Supporting yourself Read more Supporting yourself. Covid information hub See all pages Covid information hub. Help in your area. Find peer support online Visit the Clic website Find peer support online. Advice and information.
Contact our advice service today Need more information? Get involved. Become a campaigner Sign up today Become a campaigner. Get help now. Advice and information Carers hub Suicidal thoughts - How to support someone. Suicidal thoughts - How to support someone Suicide is when someone ends their own life. If you would like more advice or information you can contact our Advice and Information Service by clicking here.
Download Suicidal thoughts - How to support someone factsheet. Share: Contact us:. Overview People think about suicide for different reasons. If you are worried that someone may be thinking about suicide, talk to them.
Ask them about how they are feeling. Talking to someone about their suicidal thoughts does not make them more likely to end their life. You can help someone who is feeling suicidal by listening, without judging them. You can support someone to think about other options to deal with their feelings.
Such as accessing support from the NHS, charities or self-help. If someone is in crisis you may need to get help from mental health services or the emergency services. If someone tries to end their life, this is not your fault. Helping someone with suicidal thoughts is likely to have a big impact on you. Find out what support is available to you.
Need more advice? If you need more advice or information you can contact our Advice and Information Service. Contact us Contact us. About What makes someone think of suicide? A risk factor might include: difficult life events. Such as a traumatic childhood or experiencing physical or emotional abuse, something upsetting or life changing such as a relationship ending or a loved one dying, anger at other people, misusing drugs or alcohol, living alone or having little social contact with other people, having a mental health condition such as depression, schizophrenia or personality disorder, having a physical health condition, especially if this causes pain or serious disability, or problems with work or money.
Can antidepressants cause suicidal thoughts? Why may someone end their life? There are lots of reasons why someone may end their life. Some reasons are: escape what they feel is an impossible situation, relieve unbearable thoughts or feelings, or relieve physical pain or incapacity. What kind of thoughts may someone have? When someone feels suicidal, they may have some of the thoughts listed below. I have let myself and other people down.
I am a burden. I am a failure. No one needs me. I will never find a way out of my problem. I have lost everything. Things will never get better for me.
Nobody cares about me. Warning signs What are the warning signs that someone feels suicidal? Changes can include: becoming anxious, being more irritable, being more confrontational, becoming quiet, having mood swings, acting recklessly, sleeping too much or too little, not wanting to be around other people, avoiding contact with friends and family, having different problems with work or studies, or saying negative things about themselves.
There are some indicators that suggest someone is more likely to attempt suicide. These include: threatening to hurt or kill themselves, talking or writing about death, dying or suicide, preparing to end their life. Such as storing up medication, or putting affairs in order.
Such as giving away belongings or making a will. Helping someone How can I help someone who is feeling suicidal? It might help to: let them know that you care about them and that they are not alone, empathise with them.
This shows that you are listening. Repeating information can also make sure that you have understood them properly, ask about their reasons for living and dying and listen to their answers.
Try to explore their reasons for living in more detail, ask if they have felt like this before. If so, ask how their feelings changed last time, reassure them that they will not feel this way forever, encourage them to focus on getting through the day rather than focusing on the future, ask them if they have a plan for ending their life. Ask what the plan is, encourage them to seek help that they are comfortable with. Such as help from a doctor or counsellor, or support through a charity such as the Samaritans, follow up any commitments that you agree to, make sure someone is with them if they are in immediate danger, try to get professional help for the person feeling suicidal, and get support for yourself.
These responses are unlikely to be helpful. Reassurance, respect and support can help someone to recover from a difficult time. Thinking about suicide does not mean that you will act on these thoughts. At times, thoughts of suicide can be fleeting thoughts that you have no plans to act on. Sometimes, the thoughts of suicide might feel more intense than this and you might think about making plans to act on them. These thoughts can be really brief, or they can last a while.
The important thing to note is that experiencing thoughts of suicide for any amount of time is really difficult but there is always support you can access. You might have these thoughts just one time, for them never to come back again. Sometimes, if something in particular is impacting on these thoughts, it might take getting help with these things for the thoughts of suicide to lessen. It can take time for thoughts of suicide to gradually lessen in intensity.
Focus on taking it one step at a time and reward yourself when you reach each one. Who can help me with my thoughts of suicide? Feeling suicidal can leave you feeling out of control. Having a say in the help you receive might make you feel a little more in control.
Telling someone that you feel suicidal can be scary and it can be difficult to know how someone might respond or what might happen next. It can help to think of someone you really trust or someone who has helped you in the past. It can also help to think about what you want them to understand, and some people find writing down notes as a prompt can be useful. Sometimes the person you tell may have a duty to tell someone else if you share that you feel suicidal.
Telling your GP how you feel is important so that you can get the help that you need. One thing that people often worry about is whether they will get sectioned if they tell their GP that they are thinking about suicide. We want to reassure you that it is very unlikely you will be sectioned — your GP will want to help and, where possible, in a way that offers you the most choice and freedom over your care.
There may be some situations where your GP may want you to be admitted to hospital but you will often be given the option to go there yourself. If your GP thinks you need to be sectioned, he or she will usually need to contact specially trained mental health practitioners to assess you before you go into hospital.
Find more information about sectioning here. If you are 16 or over, everything you talk to your GP about should be kept confidential between you and them. The only exception to this is if they feel you are an immediate risk to yourself or someone else or if they have a safeguarding concern about a child or vulnerable adult.
Your GP should always discuss this with you before they tell someone else. If you are under 16 your GP may need to assess your capacity to make decisions about your healthcare when thinking about whether they will tell your parents.
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