31/07/2019
Six Degrees Social Enterprise C.I.C.
Suicidal thoughts sometimes start because people feel overwhelmed by their problems or their situation. When we get overwhelmed we can find it hard to see a way out. Our thinking can become very negatively focused and narrowed down and it becomes difficult to get perspective and find solutions.
Around 1 in 5 people have suicidal thoughts at some point in their life and approximately 75% of suicides are by people who have had no contact with mental health services in the year before their death. 4,400 people end their own lives each year – which works out as one death every two hours. Around 10 times that many people attempt suicide.
If you’re worried that someone is at immediate risk of taking their own life, you should stay with that person and take one of the following steps:
- encourage them to ring the Samaritans on 116 123, open 24 hours a day.
- contact their GP for an emergency appointment or call the out of hours service.
- call their Mental Health worker, if they have one.
- ring 999 or NHS direct (111 from any landline or mobile phone, free of charge).
- go to the nearest Accident and Emergency (A&E) department.
- go through their Safety Plan with them, if they have one – or go to the Safety Plan (external site) page to help them develop a plan.
