{"id":145783,"date":"2026-04-06T20:44:29","date_gmt":"2026-04-07T01:44:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sleepyeyeonline.com\/goodnews\/?p=145783"},"modified":"2026-04-06T21:53:26","modified_gmt":"2026-04-07T02:53:26","slug":"145783-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sleepyeyeonline.com\/goodnews\/145783-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Family Living Focus: What to do When Someone Talks about Suicide"},"content":{"rendered":"

Gail Gilman, Family Life Consultant, M.Ed., C.F.C.S. and Professor<\/em>
\nEmeritus, University of Minnesot<\/em>a<\/p>\n

Although not as common in seniors, often individuals contemplating suicide
\nwill give some sort of indication.\u00a0 An older adult might say: “I wonder what
\nit would be like if I wasn’t around?” or “Nobody would miss me if I wasn’t
\nhere.” or “I wish I could go to sleep and never wake up.”\u00a0 This may be their
\nway of asking for help.<\/p>\n

Don’t be afraid to ask – “Are you thinking about harming yourself?” or “Have
\nyou been thinking about ending your life?” versus “You aren’t thinking of
\ncommitting suicide, are you?”\u00a0 The first question offers an opening for more
\ndialogue.\u00a0 The second closes the discussion by indicating you don’t want to
\nlisten.\u00a0 Try to determine their level of distress and ask about thoughts or
\nplans of self-harm.\u00a0 Note: By raising the issue, you are not likely to
\ninstill the possibility of suicide in someone who is not already thinking of
\nit.<\/p>\n

Listen – to how the person describes the problem and learn about what
\nproblems the individual believes suicide would solve.\u00a0 Your genuine
\nattention and concern may be the most helpful element of offering hope.<\/p>\n

Offer Support – to the individual in distress with “I care” statements such
\nas “I want to help you” and “You are not alone” and “I will help you get the
\nservices you need.”<\/p>\n

Assure – them of your support and confidentiality, however, do not promise
\nto maintain secrecy when risk to life is involved.<\/p>\n

Act Immediately – to ensure safety and address acute care needs.\u00a0 Offer to
\ntake them to get help from a counselor or a crisis center.\u00a0 Help them call a
\nsuicide hotline or call 911 if the threat is immediate.<\/p>\n

Seek Consultation – Talking about suicide may be a new experience for many
\npeople and can be anxiety producing.\u00a0 Make sure you have support from other
\nprofessionals to get information, develop strategies and receive support for
\nyourself and the person you are serving.<\/p>\n

Refer to Appropriate Service – for a psychological evaluation and\/or mental
\nhealth treatment program.<\/p>\n

Follow Up – with the individual through your regular contacts.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Gail Gilman, Family Life Consultant, M.Ed., C.F.C.S. and Professor Emeritus, University of Minnesota Although not as common in seniors, often individuals contemplating suicide will give some sort of indication.\u00a0 An older adult might say: “I wonder what it would be like if I wasn’t around?” or “Nobody would miss me if I wasn’t here.” or …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":142950,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_bbp_topic_count":0,"_bbp_reply_count":0,"_bbp_total_topic_count":0,"_bbp_total_reply_count":0,"_bbp_voice_count":0,"_bbp_anonymous_reply_count":0,"_bbp_topic_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_reply_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_forum_subforum_count":0,"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[191],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-145783","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-newsletters"],"aioseo_notices":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":true,"date":"2026-09-26 20:42:52","action":"change-status","newStatus":"trash","terms":[0],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sleepyeyeonline.com\/goodnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/145783","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sleepyeyeonline.com\/goodnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sleepyeyeonline.com\/goodnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sleepyeyeonline.com\/goodnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sleepyeyeonline.com\/goodnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=145783"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.sleepyeyeonline.com\/goodnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/145783\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":145786,"href":"https:\/\/www.sleepyeyeonline.com\/goodnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/145783\/revisions\/145786"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sleepyeyeonline.com\/goodnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/142950"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sleepyeyeonline.com\/goodnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=145783"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sleepyeyeonline.com\/goodnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=145783"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sleepyeyeonline.com\/goodnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=145783"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}