I want to help
This page contains resources and tools to support you in learning more about suicide awareness and prevention.
Take care of yourself
Engaging in materials around suicide can be difficult and may bring up distressing thoughts or emotional reactions. It's okay to pause or take a break. Please take care of yourselves both during and after reading through the following material. If you need, reach out to a friend, family member or trusted professional. Find support resources here.
What role can I play?
Community members play an essential role in suicide prevention. Those experiencing thoughts of suicide may be reluctant to reach out for help for a variety of reasons. For example, they may be unaware of resources, or feel hopeless that anything could help them.
Community members can help address this gap in care by:
1) Being aware of potential warning signs of suicide to be able to recognize them in those around them
2) Know how to start a supportive conversation to check in about suicide and provide help
3) Know about community resources and how to connect those in need of additional support
Community members are not expected to be experts. Rather, they can play an important role in helping someone experiencing thoughts of suicide feel heard, supported, and cared for, and help them explore other options. They can also serve as a bridge to resources, which can provide further support.
Potential warning signs and risk factors
Although suicide is not predictable, there can be risk factors and warning signs that could indicate that someone is thinking about suicide. Thoughts of suicide are a result of a combination of personal, social, and cultural factors.
Signs can be direct, indirect, and even vague. They can be communicated verbally, shown behaviourally, or become apparent through situations.
It is important to note that these signs and risk factors are not an exhaustive list, and warning signs can greatly vary among people.
Signs can be direct, or indirect and vague. Warning signs alone will typically not give us enough information to know if someone is experiencing thoughts of suicide or not. Rather, signs can let us know that someone could be thinking of suicide, and prompt us to start a supportive conversation with someone to check in.
- A prior suicide attempt
- Untreated mental illness
- Chronic physical pain or illness
- Trauma, for example, violence, victimization, childhood abuse or neglect, suicide by a family member or friend, events that affect multiple family generations
- Significant loss, including personal (relationships), social, cultural, financial
- Major life stressors, such as unemployment, homelessness, poor health, harassment, and discrimination
- Lack of access or availability of mental health services
- Personal identity struggles
- Lack of support from friends, family, and community
- Sense of isolation
- Significant changes in mood, such as anxiety, anger, sadness, or helplessness
- Changes in routine, sleep habits, and/or eating habits
- Withdrawing from family, friends, or activities they normally enjoy
- Saying goodbyes or talking about death
- Increase or changes in substance use
- Feeling like they have no purpose in life or reason for living
- Expressing that they feel hopeless about the future
- Stating that they feel like a burden to those around them
- Expressing that they feel stuck, or like things will never get better
- Increase in high-risk behaviors, such as risky driving
Steps for providing support
Potential warning signs and risk factors can signal us to check in about how someone is feeling. Although signs can be direct, indirect or vague, it's important to be familiar with them, so we can recognize them and initiate a supportive conversation.
Asking directly about suicide is more likely to give us a direct answer.
It also shows that we are willing to table about suicide openly.
Examples:
- "I’ve noticed that you seem distracted and upset lately and have not been going to classes. You also mentioned you haven’t been sleeping. I am really concerned about you and wanted to check in, are you having thoughts of suicide?"
- "I heard you mention that you're feeling really overwhelmed and feel like nothing will ever get better. Sometimes, when people feel this way, they might have thoughts of suicide. I am really worried about you. Are you having thoughts of suicide?"
Validation and empathy are a key piece of providing support.
Validating statements let the person know that is understandable and okay to feel how they are feeling, and that we hear them when they say things are incredibly hard right now.
Example:
- “Thank you so much for sharing that with me. It sounds like things are extremely hard right now. What has been contributing to these thoughts?”
- “I am so glad you told me. You are going through a lot right now, and I can understand why everything feels incredibly overwhelming and hard.”
- “I understand why you are feeling defeated right now. It is unfair that you are dealing with this all. How long have you been feeling this way?”
Connecting with additional resources and support is an important part of keeping someone safe.
In determining the next step for a referral, it's helpful to approach this in a collaborative way. We do this by asking questions about the types of support the person already has, is aware of, or feels most comfortable connecting with, rather than telling them what we think is the best next step. This can promote a more positive relationship, provide the person with some agency during an uncertain time, and make it more likely that they follow through with the next steps for safety.
Your relationship with the person you are helping plays a big role in determining what follow-up could look like.
For instance, if you’re helping a family member, colleague, or peer, you may offer to continue to check-in with them for emotional support, or provide practical support, such as child-care or bringing over a meal.
If you are supporting someone in a professional capacity, it's important the type of follow-up you offer doesn't extend beyond the scope of your role. In these instances, the resources you are connecting the person to may be the primary source of ongoing support, rather than you.
After having a supportive conversation, it is important to also ensure that you get the personal support you need. This could include practicing self-care strategies or checking in with resources yourself.
Example: “I'm glad you'll have a chance to connect with the resource we talked about, and that we talked today. You are not alone.”
Protective factors
When persuading someone to stay alive, consider protective aspects in one's life that can guard against the risk of suicide. These will be different for everyone but any factor is valid. Here are some examples.
Caring network of social support
Community connection
Counselor or therapist
Duty to others
Spiritual Practice
Positive cultural identity
Good health
Medication compliance
Fear
Job security
Pets
Difficult access to means
Positive self-esteem
Calm environment
Availability of quality and culturally relevant care
Ways to ask about protective factors
- "With everything going on, has there been anything that's helped?"
- "When this has happened in the past, what got you out of it?"
What NOT to say about protective factors
- "Think about what you're doing to your loved ones"
- "Think about the pain this would cause"
Talking, and listening, to someone we are concerned about
Suicidal people have most likely been trying to communicate their pain to others, but no one has asked them. By asking, you are showing your care and concern and giving them the opportunity to talk about their pain.
Supporting ourselves
It is natural to have a variety of emotional reactions when we are concerned that someone may be having thoughts of suicide. It is common to feel confused, shocked, guilty, or scared. We may feel reluctant to start a conversation about suicide because we are unsure how to approach it, we don’t know what to say, or we feel worried about their reaction or their response.
It is important to recognize these emotions, so they don't prevent us from checking in with someone about suicide. Remember, asking the question will not cause someone to think about suicide, and is an important part of suicide prevention. The person who is experiencing thoughts of suicide is likely worried about disclosing. By checking in, we show them we are a safe person to talk to.
You are not alone.
As the person providing support, there are a variety of other supports and resources that we can lean on ourselves. These resources not only help those experiencing thoughts of suicide, they also support those in helping roles.
Community resources and referrals
There are a variety of on and off-campus resources that can provide further support to someone thinking about thoughts of suicide.
In emergency situations, where there is an indication of imminent harm (for instance, the person has disclosed that they are going to act on their thoughts of suicide very soon), emergency resources are required, such as 911 or Campus Security (403-220-5333).
In situations where there is not an indication of imminent harm, although urgent support is required, resources could include:
UCalgary's Suicide Awareness and Prevention Framework
Developed in collaboration with UCalgary's Community Mental Health and Well-Being Strategy, and in community partnership with Calgary’s Centre for Suicide Prevention, and the Distress Centre, the framework was launched in 2020 as a long-term system-wide transformation, working together to prevent all student suicides. The foundational belief of the Framework is that suicide deaths for individuals under the care of health systems are preventable. UCalgary aspires towards long-term system-wide transformation toward safer suicide care for our students using the Framework's seven key goals.
You are not alone
If you are experiencing suicidal thoughts or behaviours or a mental health crisis, know that you are not alone and there are many supports and caring individuals available to assist you. If you or someone you know is experiencing thoughts of suicide, call or text 9-8-8.
When someone contacts 9-8-8, you’ll be connected with a highly trained responder who will listen with compassion, give you space to talk, and explore ways to keep you safe in the moment and help you find a path forward.