Don’t try to offer quick and easy solutions. Listen to why they are in emotional pain. Help them try to focus on their own reasons for staying alive, not yours. You could try saying “I may not know exactly what you are going through but I want to try to understand”. It shows that you empathise with them and genuinely care about the pain they are feeling. Encourage them to focus on getting through today rather than the much more stressful bigger future. Try to help them find something with meaning that they can hold onto. The goal is to try and remind them of what they value and what’s important to them. You could try saying “I know we can get through this” or “Just because you don’t feel strong now doesn’t mean you aren’t strong enough to move on”, to offer them support and hope.

Once you have established their immediate safety it is important to connect them to ongoing professional mental health support. Another important step is to help them develop a crisis safety plan. For more detailed information on how to do this, click https://www.papyrus-uk.org/resource-suicide-safety-plan/. You can also make an arrangement to contact them either by phone, text, or in person the next day, and throughout the days that follow, but don’t promise anything you can’t commit to. Thank you for being there for your friend.

In summary: Assess the risk of suicide or self-harm, listen non-judgementally, give reassurance and information, and encourage them to seek appropriate professional help and use self-help strategies.