JEDI toolkit

Explore

Mental health

Suicide

Suicide doesn’t end the pain, it just passes it on to someone else. Beautiful souls are shaped by ugly experiences.

What is suicide?

It is the act of taking one‘s life as an irreversible and tragic reaction to overwhelmingly stressful life events. What causes people to have suicidal thoughts differs between people.

Signs of suicidal thinking

Signs of suicidal thinking

Physical

Feelings

Thoughts

Behavior

Fatigue

Helplessness

"I wish I were dead”

Increasing use of drugs and/or alcohol

Change in sleep pattern

Feeling cornered/trapped

"I wish I wasn’t born”

Talking about suicide (online or in person)

Extreme mood swings

Extreme sadness

"People would be better off without me living”

Saying goodbyes as if they will never be seen again

Hopelessness

"I’m going to kill myself’

Obsessed with the topic of death, violence,suicide in conversations

Agitation

"I’m a burden to people around me”

Stockpiling on medication, guns, and other potentially harmful items

Rage

Engaging in reckless or endangering activities (e.g. reckless driving)

Withdrawing from social interactions

There are no rows in this table

⁠

Contacts for Immediate Help

**If you have taken suicidal actions or hurt yourself or attempted to take your life recently, immediately call 911 or your local emergency line.**

National Suicide Prevention Hotline:

USA

Call:

1-800-273-8255⁠

Ayuda en español:

1-888-628-9454⁠

⁠

Text HOME to 741741

Search for hotlines in your region:

https://www.iasp.info/resources/Crisis_Centres/⁠

⁠

Trevor Project Lifeline for LGBTQ+ Youth:

Call:

1-866-488-7386⁠

⁠

Text START to 678-678

If you’re having thoughts of suicide:

Immediately call/text the hotlines for a live counselor to assist you.

Remove access to lethal items. If possible, ask someone to help you do this and keep items out of reach.

Create a

safety plan⁠

Pay attention to your health and start/maintain a healthy lifestyle.

Seek help from a therapist/doctor if health issues are preventing you from moving forward

Know that these feelings are temporary

More information at

I'm Having Suicidal Thoughts – SAVE⁠

and at

Help Yourself⁠

(this has resources for living during current events and for different people)

If you are concerned about someone else:

Be aware of

warning signs⁠

Start a non-confrontational, non-judgmental dialogue. Conversation starters include:

“Do you ever feel so bad that you think about suicide?”

“Do you have a plan to kill yourself or take your life?”

“Have you thought about when you would do it (today, tomorrow, next week)?”

“Have you thought about what method you would use?”

Never keep a suicide plan secret. Call the prevention hotline to be directed to your local crisis lifeline center where they can assist you.

Don’t minimize their problems. Reassure them that their feelings are temporary, help is available, and that life can get better.

Don’t hesitate when offering help. Help even when you think that your help is unwanted or intrusive. It can be worth it.

More information here:

How to Help Someone Who Is Having Thoughts of Suicide – SAVE⁠

⁠

Want to print your doc?
This is not the way.

Try clicking the ⋯ next to your doc name or using a keyboard shortcut (

CtrlP

) instead.