Dealing with suicidal thoughts
Whether you’re concerned about your own mental well-being or that of someone else, knowing how to help, what to say and who to contact can be the difference between life and death. This resource section will continually be updated to provide you with the most up to date and relevant information and support, based on your specific needs:
I am having suicidal thoughts
Before we signpost you to practical support, we thought you might like to read this wonderful poem by Suzanne Baines from You Matter Always. We hope these words resonate with you if you are feeling suicidal:
If you are considering taking your own life, right now, you probably feel that there is no other option – it could be that you’ve been feeling this way for some time and you possibly have a plan already in place?
If you’re struggling and you’re not sure if you want to live or die that can feel like an overwhelming decision to have to make, so let’s consider a third choice – can you stay with us for a while longer, whilst we try a few things which will help?
- Breathe: Take some deep, steady breaths in, hold for a few seconds and then exhale for twice as long as you inhaled. This will help you feel calmer.
- Contact: Reach out to a family member, friend, colleague, anyone you trust and let them know what you’re experiencing.
- Safety Plan: Download and access the “Stay Alive” app from Grassroots . Also visit the website StayingSafe. Both will provide vital and helpful advice to keep you safe until someone arrives. Keep reading and watching the videos for ideas about how to get through until help arrives. There may be things that you – and other people – can do to make things better.
- Hope: Hold on to hope
You may have found yourself wishing that you were dead, or perhaps thinking that the people who you care about would be better off without you but with support you can choose to live.
Even situations that seem almost impossible to face can feel different if you remind yourself that feelings don’t last forever and you have an idea of what you can do to get through this painful time.
We know that others have felt like you do and at one point, they felt defeated or humiliated and trapped and couldn’t seen any hope either. So many of those people got through that crisis and now live much happier and fulfilled lives.
Shall we take that first step to keeping you safe?
Please take a look at this important information and useful resources:
Have you got a safety plan?
Grassroots – the STAYALIVE app is a pocket suicide prevention resource for the UK, packed full of useful information to help you stay safe. You can use it if you are having thoughts of suicide or if you are concerned about someone else who may be considering suicide.
You can download the app for yourself or on behalf of someone else. There is also an option as a company.
Staying Safe (safety planning)
StayingSafe.net website for anyone struggling with suicidal thoughts or supporting someone else. It’s designed to offer hope, compassion and practical ideas on how to find your own way forward.
Visit your local hospital’s A&E department or ask for an Emergency Doctor’s appointment without delay. Take a look at NHS talking therapies for anxiety and depression
Doc Ready – if you need to speak to a doctor about your mental health, knowing what to say, when you’re under stress, can be difficult and you may omit important information. Doc Ready provides a template for you to write out what you need to ask the Doctor before you speak with them
Visit the NHS’s urgent help information website page here.
Call The Samaritans – free on 116 123 (UK and Ireland). Occasionally their line might be busy. If this is the case don’t give up, either try again later or use one of the other support services shown on this page. Take a look at their comprehensive guide for anyone who is struggling to cope here.
Shout is a free text service 85258, where you are immediately put through to a trained individual who can help if you are in crisis
Hub of Hope helps you find mental health support locally to you. Just add your postcode and you’ll have immediate access to a GP, psychotherapist etc
Calm- Campaign Against Living Miserably provoke conversation, run life-saving services, and bring people together so they reject living miserably, get help when they need it and don’t die by suicide
Andy’s Man Club’s men’s mental health support groups operate throughout the UK, providing opportunities for men who have either been through a storm, are currently going through a storm or have a storm brewing in life to talk with others experiencing similar situations. You can find a club local to you here
LGBT Foundation exists to support the needs of the diverse range of people who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans
Just ‘B’ (North Yorkshire) offers expert emotional wellbeing and bereavement support to children, young people and adults across the communities of North Yorkshire, as well as specialist support regionally and nationally
Other international suicide helplines can be found here
How do I support someone who is considering suicide?
You may be concerned about someone you know and just as worried about saying or doing the wrong thing. Either way, it is vital you remain calm and ask them – “are you considering self-harming or having thoughts of suicide?” Next, you need to ensure they are safe until appropriate professional help is available. We would recommend you suggest the person follows the StayingSafe.net guidelines shown above
Ignore the myth, you may have heard, which suggests that by asking if someone is considering suicide they are more likely to act on their thoughts or you may plant the thought in their head, this is simply not the case.
Grassroots has created this very powerful ‘Real Talk’ interactive film, showing ‘Chris’ being supported by his new flatmate. Warning: in our view, the acting in this film is extremely realistic and powerful and you may find it hard to watch, particularly if you have been personally affected by suicide.
R;pple was launched by Alice Hendy following the suicide of her brother Josh. This internet browser extension is a must have tool. By downloading the extension, if any member of your family, friends, colleagues enters potentially harmful search words into their browser, they are immediately presented with calming messages and a number of vital support resources
The Zero Suicide Alliance provide an excellent free, online training courses here, that you can access in your own time. Option 1, the ZSA’s initial Gateway Training sessions, takes just 5-10 minutes to complete and you will learn how to approach someone that you think my be considering ending their own life.
R;pple Suicide Prevention – a guide on how to talk about suicide
Talking about suicide is hard. Starting the conversation
is hard. Finding the right words is hard. Whether you’re
talking to a friend in crisis or a bereaved colleague, it’s
hard.
The Jordan Legacy is proud to have been one of the contributors to an excellent guide published on World Suicide Prevention Day 2025, by our collaborative partners, R;pple Suicide Prevention.
The guide includes contributions from many of the leading voices in the suicide prevention space, most have been impacted by suicide themselves.
Please take time to download and read this guide and understand how you too can help prevent someone who is struggling to stay and not choose suicide as an option.
You can access the guide via this link.
I am anxious and often feel depressed
We would always recommend seeing your GP as soon as possible. Your doctor may determine that some form of anti-depressant medication is required to help reduce any extreme thoughts or behaviours you are experiencing. Medication often works best when supported by talking therapy.
At this point, we would recommend booking an appointment with your doctor as soon as possible. You might also consider contacting one of the many support organisations, who are equipped and ready to help you, these include:
CALM – Campaign Against Living Miserably – run a free, confidential and anonymous helpline offering help, advice and information to anyone who is struggling or in crisis
MIND provide advice and support to empower anyone experiencing a mental health problem, including depression and anxiety.
PAPYRUS is the UK charity dedicated to the prevention of suicide and the promotion of positive mental health and emotional wellbeing in young people. Their free suicide prevention helpline, HOPELINEUK, is staffed by trained suicide prevention advisers, who work with young people – and anybody concerned for a young person – to help keep them safe from suicide
Side by Side is a supportive online community, provided by the charity MIND, where you can feel at home talking about your mental health and connect with others who understand what you are going through
BAATN is promoted as the home of the largest community of Counsellors and Psychotherapist of Black, African, Asian and Caribbean heritage in the UK
Every Mind Matters is a Better Health resource site provided by the NHS in England, with links to other UK countries, where you will find a range of help guides for all age groups, on topics relating to looking after your own mental health and how to support others
BBC Headroom provides a toolkit of mindful tips, mood mixes, personal stories and other tools to help motivate you and support you, when your mental wellbeing is suffering
The Wellbeing Support Grid
When you’re feeling highly anxious or possibly considering ending your life, knowing where or who to turn to, if/when you need help, could be the difference between a future life filled with infinite possibilities or the worst of possible outcomes, which is never knowing what could have been.
Print a copy of the grid and in the left column, write all the possible sources of support in your network – this could include family, friends, colleagues or professional and support groups on or off-line, list them all.
Then in the column headed Who Supports? write the name of who that specific person is who would be there for you.
In the next column, headed What Supports? write down what support that person or organisation could provide.
In the third column, headed ‘How Supports?’ write down how they deliver that support i.e. by telephone, online, face-to-face, do they come to you or do you go to them?
The best time to complete this grid is when you don’t need to, so why not download your copy now: Wellbeing Support Grid
The wellbeing grid has been created by Paul Vittles of Towards Zero Suicide.
I have lost someone to suicide
The ripple effect of someone dying by suicide can be immense. The following organisations and resources are there to support anyone who is bereaved as a result of suicide, whatever your relationship to the person who took their own life:
Calm’s Guide to Support After Suicide
Mind provide information on bereavement, where to go for support, and suggestions for helping yourself and others through grief
The Compassionate Friends (not suicide specific) support bereaved parent and their families
Leeds Mind co-produced suicide prevention project
Leeds Mind worked with a team of volunteers across West Yorkshire who all have lived experience of being impacted by suicide either being in that position themself, supporting someone else or being bereaved. Drawing on lived experience, volunteers worked on projects and campaigns that aim to;
- Reduce stigma around mental health and suicide
- Raise awareness
- Champion the voices of people with lived experience
- Challenge and influence decision makers to improve mental health support for clients and families
Click this link to access a range of useful resources including:
- Lived Experience Films – a film was created which shows conversations speaking directly to health and care staff about experiences of secondary mental health services.
- Surviving Crisis: Learning From Lived Experience Podcast – Volunteers have used their own experiences to create a podcast series with the aim of supporting staff who work with people in crisis.
- Bereavement Support Leaflet – was created to offer simplified and concise support to those bereaved by suicide
- Lived Experience Involvement Guidelines – This resource is aimed at all staff working within health and care who involve people with lived experience in their work.
- Book of Cope – celebrates and shares the different strategies people from West Yorkshire use to boost their mental wellbeing, to help others when facing their own challenges.
- Community Conversations – captures people’s views on what has worked well, what didn’t work and if anything was missing from mental health services and support
Although this project was created in and refers to West Yorkshire, the principles are transferable to any region in the UK.