LHS Wellness Center - Suicide Prevention

suicide prevention

If you need help now, please call 911 or contact SAMHSA’s National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255).

Alternatively, you can text HOME to 741741 to reach a Crisis Counselor.

Crisis Text Line serves anyone, in any type of crisis, providing access to free, 24/7 support via a medium people already use and trust: text.

Suicide is a serious public health problem that causes immeasurable pain, suffering, and loss to individuals, families, and communities nationwide. Suicide prevention efforts seek to:

Reduce factors that increase the risk for suicidal thoughts and behaviors.
Increase the factors that help strengthen, support, and protect individuals from suicide.

Ideally, these efforts address individual, relationship, community, and societal factors while promoting hope, easing access into effective treatment, encouraging connectedness, and supporting recovery.

The causes of suicide are complex and determined by multiple combinations of factors, such as mental illness, substance abuse, painful losses, exposure to violence, and social isolation.

Threats of suicide are a cry for help. Always take such statements, thoughts, behaviors, or plans very seriously. Any teen who expresses thoughts of suicide should be evaluated right away. Talk with your teen’s healthcare provider.

Warning signs that may mean someone is at risk include:

Talking about wanting to die or kill oneself
Looking for a way to kill oneself
Talking about feeling hopeless or having no reason to live
Talking about feeling trapped or being in unbearable pain
Talking about being a burden to others
Increasing the use of alcohol or drugs
Acting anxious or agitated; behaving recklessly
Sleeping too little or too much
Withdrawing or feeling isolated
Showing rage or talking about seeking revenge
Displaying extreme mood swings

The risk is greater if the behavior is new, or has increased, and if it seems related to a painful event, loss, or change.

If you believe someone may be thinking about suicide:

Call 911, if danger for self-harm seems imminent.
Ask them if they are thinking about killing themselves. (This will not put the idea into their head or make it more likely that they will attempt suicide.)
Listen without judging and show you care.
Stay with the person (or make sure the person is in a private, secure place with another caring person) until you can get further help.
Remove any objects that could be used in a suicide attempt.

Everyone has a role to play in preventing suicide. For instance, faith communities can work to prevent suicide simply by fostering cultures and norms that are life-preserving, providing perspective and social support to community members, and helping people navigate the struggles of life to find a sustainable sense of hope, meaning, and purpose.

Although prior suicide attempts is one of the strongest risk factors for suicide, the vast majority of people who attempt suicide—9 in 10—do not ultimately die by suicide. A growing number of people who have lived through suicidal experiences are writing and speaking about their experiences, connecting with one another, and sharing their pathways to wellness and recovery. For examples, read the Action Alliance’s The Way Forward.

Losing a loved one to suicide can be profoundly painful for family members and friends. SAMHSA’s Suicide Prevention Resource Center helps loss survivors find local and national organizations, websites, and other resources that provide support, healing, and a sense of community.