Small Steps for Those Who Want to Commit Suicide: Little Changes that Can Make a Big Difference

Dealing with someone that says they want to commit suicide can be handled many ways although professional help is the main goal. Some people will take the situation seriously and attempt to provide the person who wants to commit suicide with the professional help they need while others will not take the situation seriously at all. Whether or not the person who wants to commit suicide is getting the professional help that they should the first and most important step but unfortunately it often goes overlooked. If you are unable to get someone you know into therapy there are still some small changes you can help instill in them that may make a big difference.

1. Engage in behavior that does not directly discuss the suicidal thoughts. Since you are likely not a professional, confronting the person who wants to commit suicide outright can be a bad idea that may end up causing more harm than good. You should be open to discuss the thoughts of suicide if the person volunteers them, but you should never attempt to force your loved one to talk about it. Instead you should try to engage in activities that take the focus away from the suicidal thoughts such as activities that the person who wants to commit suicide used to love before the illness set in. Avoid engagements that could escalate the ideas of suicide such as intense social situations that may make the person who wants to commit suicide feel worse. Instead try to think of things that the person enjoys and invite them along without any expression of your intent to do it for them specifically.

2. Encourage them to give of themselves. A person that wants to commit suicide is often engulfed deeply in their misery and also thinks of little else except of how awful their situation is. Talking to them and rationalizing the situation proves to be uneventful and the person that wants to commit suicide will likely retreat further. You will most likely have to be the one to set everything up and go along since the person who wants to commit suicide is usually unmotivated and does not desire to get involved with others. Volunteering time, getting a job that involves giving or starting up your own charitable drive are all ways to help get the person who wants to commit suicide away from thinking only of themselves. Sometimes seeing others misfortunes can help the person who wants to commit suicide that there are others worse off although it can sometimes cause them to feel more depressed. Seeing intensely negative situations can not be a good idea because the frame of mind that a person who wants to commit suicide is in will cause them to be brought down further.

3. Help the person who wants to commit suicide find their purpose. They may not know it, but the person who wants to commit suicide has a special purpose hiding somewhere in their misery and self-loathing. As someone who cares for the person who wants to commit suicide you may see the talents of this person and feel bad that they do not see them within themselves. By helping the person who wants to commit suicide find an outlet for their talent you can help to give them meaning in a life they currently believe has no purpose. By a book on something he or she is good at, or sign both of you up for a class. You can even start by taking the person who wants to commit suicide to see others who have achieved success in the very thing they are good at.

4. Be happy. If you are negative and unhappy in front of the person who wants to commit suicide how can you expect them to see the glass as half full? Maintaining a positive energy and keeping your own head up is a great way to set the example and help to influence the person that wants to commit suicide. Negativity breeds more negativity so make sure the person who wants to commit suicide has positive influences around him or her at all times. Sometimes the happiness can rub off, even if just temporarily, and this is a first step towards helping the person to break through.

While these tips can be helpful for dealing with someone who wants to commit suicide it is important to remember that only a professional can make an assessment and diagnosis. Nothing replaces professional help for a depressed person and these tips are geared towards helping those loved ones who are around the ill person.