What can you do to help?

• Get involved. Be available and show interest and support. • Ask outright if the person is thinking about suicide. • Be direct. Talk openly and freely about suicide. • Be willing to listen and accept expressions of feelings. • Be nonjudgmental and do not lecture on the value of life. • Do not dare a person to commit suicide. • Do not ask why. That only encourages defensiveness. • Offer empathy, not sympathy. • Do not act shocked. That creates distance. • Do not be sworn to secrecy, but seek support. • Offer hope that alternatives are available. • Take action by removing means of suicide. • Get help for those at risk.