September 10th is World Suicide
Prevention Day. As a suicide survivor
myself, it is critical to me to educate
on suicide and how to help prevent it. In
this video, I will be giving you my top
suggestions for how to help somebody who
might be suicidal. Thank you so much for
joining Psych-Minded today. I'm your host
Kalley Marie and if you haven't
subscribed yet, please subscribe so
you'll never miss a video on mental
health and psychology.Today's video is
very important. I want to make sure
that you guys stay through until the
very end
and really think on these tips because
you may not need them now but there may
come a day in the future where a family
member or a close friend or loved one is
going to need your help. The biggest
question is, "can you really help somebody
who's suicidal" and can you actually
prevent them from committing suicide at
all? The answer is yes. Yes you
can. There are many things you can do to
help somebody. So a lot of times people
are afraid to speak up to somebody that
they think is suicidal because they
think they will put the idea in their
head. I need to let you know that
that is absolutely not true.
If you confront somebody and ask them if
they're feeling suicidal or are having
feelings of harming themselves that is
not gonna put the idea in their head. If
they are truly suicidal, then they have
been feeling this for a very long time
and are probably going to be relieved if
you ask them how they're feeling. Try
to get them to open up about it.
It is better to say something than
nothing at all. If they do decide to open
up to you,
there are several things that are really
important to keep in mind. You want to
offer your emotional support but you
don't want to change their feelings.
You definitely don't want to minimize
the way that they're feeling. It's so
important to just listen if the person
who is feeling suicidal opens up to you.
Don't try to tell them that things are
not as bad as they think they are or
that things will get better eventually.
All of that may be true but it's not
going to be helpful in the moment. You
really want to take in what they're
saying and even repeat back to them what
they've said to you. So, for example, if
the individual says, "I am feeling really
hopeless" and "I feel like my life is
worth nothing,"
you would repeat
back, "What I'm hearing is that you are
feeling worthless -- is that true?" and
get them to sort of go more deeper into
how they're feeling. At that point
depending on what they say, absolutely
encourage them to get treatment.
Encourage them to talk to a
professional. You can even let them
know that you don't know what to say.
That is 100% appropriate. If you're
uncomfortable saying anything, you can
just say I don't know what to say.
And that I'm so sorry you're feeling
this way but I'm here to listen.
That is enough if you can manage two or
three sentences to let them know, I'm not
sure how to respond but I do want
you to know that I am here for you and I
care about you. That could make all the
difference. You can even ask them questions.
asking questions is really important too.
You want to ask, "How can I help. What can
I do to help you feel better?" Encourage
them to seek treatment and help.
Sometimes at the end of the day, you may
need to call help yourself. Under United
States law it is legal to call 911 for
somebody who is having a mental health
crisis and is a danger to themselves. If
someone is suicidal, don't hesitate to
either take them to a hospital or to
call 9-1-1 and get emergency services
there right away. Sometimes suicide can
be unpredictable it is far better to be
safe than sorry and prevent something
terrible from happening. So do not
hesitate to call -- it could be the best
thing you've ever done for your loved
one. If you do call for help, be sure to
sit with them until they arrive and
reassure them that you were doing the
best possible thing for them and their
health.
This can be such a difficult subject to
talk about but I want to know if you
guys have any questions for me or any
concerns regarding helping somebody who
is suicidal please leave a comment below. For world suicide prevention day
please reach out to somebody that you
love and check on them to see if they're
struggling. Reach out to somebody that
you know is feeling depressed and see if
they need anything.
If they need to talk if they need someone
to listen to them. I encourage you to be
as kind and considerate to everyone
around you as possible. There are so many
of us that are fighting depression and
fighting suicidal thoughts every single
day.
Sometimes the kindest word or the
smallest compliment can really change
someone's day. So please be kind to
everyone around you and especially your
family your loved ones and anyone you
know that may be struggling. Reach out
and help somebody today. Rhanks for
watching.
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