Every 10th of September, we celebrate World Suicide Prevention Day to highlight the fact that suicide is a global issue that needs to be addressed. On this day, we emphasize the idea that those at risk of suicide are not a lost cause. When there’s help, there’s hope. At the end of the day, it is human beings who can prevent the suicide of another human being, and it all starts with awareness of how to help them.
Changing the Narrative on Suicide
For the years 2024 to 2026, the International Association for Suicide Prevention (IASP) has announced that the theme of World Suicide Prevention Day is about changing the conversation surrounding suicide. What does this mean?
The call to action encourages everyone to start the conversation on suicide and suicide prevention. Every conversation, no matter how small, contributes to a supportive and understanding society. By initiating these vital conversations, we can break down barriers, raise awareness, and create better cultures of support.
So how do we initiate a conversation about suicide prevention? In the previous article on the theory and warning signs of suicide, the three-step theory of suicide, also known as the ideation-to-action framework, was discussed, as well as the IS PATH WARM mnemonic that represents the indicators of suicide. In this article, we move on to opening up the floor to the discussion of suicide prevention.
The Five Action Steps to Suicide Prevention: An Overview
There are many models of suicide prevention available, but the five action steps for communicating with individuals with suicidal intent are noteworthy because it is supported by evidence in suicide research. As the name implies, there are five steps to suicide prevention, as follows:
In the next few sections, these five action steps will be discussed.
Step 1: Ask.
Asking about suicide can be nerve-wracking, but it is important to initiate a dialogue with the person who is exhibiting suicidal behavior so that they have the time and space to express their thoughts, feelings, and intentions.
Another way of looking at this step is that it is an informal form of assessment. In assessment, there are a few basic principles to take note of.
Basic Principles of Assessment in Suicide Prevention
The following are some guidelines that lay the groundwork for suicide assessment:
Unfortunately, it is not an automatic outcome that a person who is willing to talk about suicide will not attempt to take their own life. Thus, it is imperative that we ask, or assess, their intentions so that we know exactly how to reduce the risk of them attempting suicide.
How to Ask
In suicide assessment, there is more or less a step-by-step procedure on how to go about it. Simply ask the following:
If we find a high risk of lethality, then we have a direct admission to save the individual’s life.
Some Reminders About Suicide Prevention
The following are some things to take note of when asking about suicidal intent:
Step 2: Be there.
How to Be There
What does being there look like? Being there could entail any of the following:
Importance of Being There
Recall that in the three-step theory of suicide, connectedness was deemed a protective factor among individuals at risk of suicide. This is because connectedness mitigates the feelings of pain and hopelessness.
With that said, fostering an at-risk individual’s connectedness to others or to some things can reduce their feelings of isolation, which in turn, can prevent suicide. Thus, being there can somehow satisfy the person’s need for belonging and affiliation.
Step 3: Help keep them safe.
In this step of suicide prevention, you can intervene once suicidal ideation has been established. In suicide intervention, there are some things that you need to know first to make sure that they are safe. The following are some considerations:
Take note that the answers to these questions are critical in determining your next steps. If their risk is considered high and severe, then you might need to urge them to call for emergency help or go to the hospital, or you might even offer to drive them to the emergency department. You will know that hospitalization is warranted if they meet the following criteria:
Step 4: Help them connect.
An important principle of suicide prevention is to transfer and not refer. In other words, when connecting them to more skilled, experienced mental health providers or crisis hotlines, you will have to keep them company while waiting for the referral contact to get back to the person in crisis. There are a number of things you can do while waiting for them to connect to a mental health professional. One of them is to collaborate with them to develop a safety plan.
Safety Plan in Suicide Prevention
In suicide intervention, working with the person who is at risk of suicide to create their own safety plan is highly encouraged. But what is a safety plan? A safety plan is a written document that the individual can refer to whenever they are in crisis. This safety plan serves as their go-to guide for what to do and what not to do when they are suffering from severe distress.
The following are the components of a crisis response and safety plan:
Step 5: Follow up.
Last but not least, once you have connected the individual to the proper support systems, make sure to check up on them to see how they have been doing since your last conversation. A simple message, text, or call will do. Following up serves as an opportunity for you to provide them with more emotional support.
Importance of Following Up in Suicide Prevention
Continued availability of support can increase the individual’s sense of connectedness. It reminds them that your concern for them did not exist in isolation; by following up, you can reduce their suicidal intentions because this cultivates the perception that they are not alone.
A Final Note
The steps we can take to completely eradicate the incidence of suicide may not take effect overnight. Maybe it is the case that absolute suicide prevention can only be accomplished through systemic changes. However, your help, effort, and support to minimize the risk of suicide among individuals still matter. It is the small acts of kindness that buid up and culminate into a world where suffering is alleviated and where distress is addressed and not ignored. To celebrate World Suicide Prevention Day, don’t just remember these five steps of suicide prevention; embrace it, live it, and take action as well.
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