She recommended calling the person and saying, “Hey, I was thinking about you and just want you to know I appreciate everything that you’ve done.” Be as specific as you can, referencing a time when they helped you. The goal, Dr. Walker said, is that “people see the value that their life has to someone else.”
What to do
Along with checking in on your loved ones, it’s equally important to restrict their access to lethal means. Firearms are involved in most suicide deaths, while medications are used in most nonfatal suicide attempts.
“One of the best ways we can help each other is, especially in any time of distress, being safer with our firearms and our medications,” Dr. Tucker said. He recommended having trigger locks on firearms, separating ammunition from weapons and getting rid of stockpiles of medications.
These prevention steps are most practical for protecting people in your own household. If you know a friend owns a firearm, Dr. Tucker recommended asking about their gun storage safety precautions or giving them a cable lock to use on the weapon. These types of gestures may lead to a conversation in which you “could offer to hold on to a friend’s firearm if they are ever struggling,” he said.
Even small steps, like keeping a gun unloaded and locked in a safe, “can be an effective barrier between the suicidal impulse and action,” according to a Veterans Affairs suicide prevention website.
Indeed, while someone may have contemplated suicide for months or even years, the urge to act is fairly impulsive. On average, less than 30 minutes elapses between when a person decides they’re going to attempt suicide and when they carry out the action, Dr. Marshall said.
If someone doesn’t have access to the means they planned to use, they are unlikely to switch methods. “People can want to die by suicide, but if they don’t have access to a firearm and that’s how they want to kill themselves, it is far less likely that they die,” Dr. Tucker said.
