World Suicide Prevention Day

The 10th of September is World Suicide Prevention Day.

Today is World Suicide Prevention Day, and we hope that the information we’re about to share helps at least someone out there who may be reading this, struggling with life, or know someone in that situation.

What is World Suicide Prevention Day?

Held by the National Suicide Prevention Alliance, an alliance of public, private and voluntary organisations in England, this day is intended to raise awareness of how we can prevent people from taking their own lives and self-harming, and support those who are affected by suicide in any way. This topic is even more poignant this year, as the Covid-19 pandemic has been responsible for a surge in mental health breakdowns and is suspected to be responsible for a possible rise in suicides – the statistics for 2020-2021 are due to be released by the Office For National Statistics later this month.

Creating hope through action is the 2021 theme, and the NSPA will be exploring the ‘complexity of hope’ in suicide prevention.

The NSPA asked their members to share their thoughts and feelings about hope, what hope means to them and what they hold onto when they don’t feel hope, as well as they build hope within others. You can read some incredibly inspiring accounts on the NPSA here.

This video shared with the NSPA is a great example!

How Can I Help Someone Who Feels Suicidal?

This is such a complex question; it all depends on so many factors. What has triggered these feelings? Which live events could this stem from? What solutions are there? It is different for every single individual person. For anyone who may feel unequipped to help much, the best things you can do are to give them a sincere listening ear, and signpost them to some really excellent professional support. If you suspect that the person is at imminent risk of taking their own life, please call emergency services.

Get involved

The best way to support World Suicide Prevention Day is to get involved. It isn’t difficult to take a stand and raise awareness of this social movement and show yourself as an ally for anyone in your life who seriously needs some support…

Share posts by the NSPA on your social media to raise awareness and stories of those impacted by suicide
Reach out to friends who you haven’t heard of for a while and who you may be worried about – go for a coffee and a good talk
Volunteer for a suicide support organisation; our list below may help

This video by WellCast is a great for anyone wanting to support a suicidal friend;

The best suicide support resources:

Samaritans: You can contact Samaritans 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. You can call 116 123 (free from any phone), email [email protected] or visit some branches in person. You can also call the Samaritans Welsh Language Line on 0808 164 0123 (7pm–11pm every day).

SANEline: If you’re experiencing a mental health problem or supporting someone else, you can call SANEline on 0300 304 7000 (4.30pm–10.30pm daily)

National Suicide Prevention Helpline UK: Offers a supportive listening service to anyone with thoughts of suicide. You can call the National Suicide Prevention Helpline UK on 0800 689 5652 (open 24/7).

Campaign Against Living Miserably (CALM): You can call the CALM on 0800 58 58 58 (5pm–midnight every day) if oyou are struggling and need to talk. Or if you prefer not to speak on the phone, you could try the CALM webchat service.

The Mix: If you’re under 25, you can call The Mix on 0808 808 4994 (Sunday-Friday 2pm–11pm), request support by email using this form on The Mix website or use their crisis text messenger service.

Papyrus HOPELINEUK: If you’re under 35 and struggling with suicidal feelings, or concerned about a young person who might be struggling, you can call Papyrus HOPELINEUK on 0800 068 4141 (weekdays 10am-10pm, weekends 2pm-10pm and bank holidays 2pm–10pm), email [email protected] or text 07786 209 697.

Nightline: If you’re a student, you can look on the Nightline website to see if your university or college offers a night-time listening service. Nightline phone operators are all students too.

Switchboard: If you identify as gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender, you can call Switchboard on 0300 330 0630 (10am–10pm every day), email [email protected] or use their webchat service. Phone operators all identify as LGBT+.

C.A.L.L: If you live in Wales, you can call the Community Advice and Listening Line (C.A.L.L.) on 0800 132 737 (open 24/7) or you can text ‘help’ followed by a question to 81066.

If you are struggling, please know that people care about you and that there is hope. We hope that this resource signposting is helpful and that you are able to feel better very soon – we send you all of our love!

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