Southwest Prevention - Suicide - Southwest Prevention

Suicide affects the lives of hundreds of Utah families each year. But there is help, and there is hope. When individuals, organizations and communities join together, suicide becomes a preventable public health problem. On this page you’ll find basic answers to some common questions about suicide prevention, as well as further resources.

If you are in crisis and need help:

Call this toll-free number, available 24 hours a day, every day
1-800-273-TALK(8255). You will reach the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, a service available to anyone. You may call
for yourself or for someone you care about, and all calls are confidential.

You can also visit the Lifeline’s website at:
www.suicidepreventionlifeline.org.

"Preventing suicide is everyone's business. As members of a family, a school, business, neighborhood, faith communities, friends and our government, we all need to work together to solve this problem. I ask everyone to help by learning about the symptoms of mental illness and substance abuse, the warning signs of suicide, how to stand with and support someone who is in crisis, and how to get someone you care about the help they need."

 -Former Surgeon General Dr, Regina Benjamin

We can all save lives

Question, Persuade, Refer: three steps anyone can learn to help prevent suicide.

Click here to learn more about QPR, and how you can be trained for free on these three basic skills.

Common Questions

What should I be looking for?

Signs & Symptoms vary widely and in some cases are not visible. But there are a few standard things to be on the lookout for:

Feeling of hopelessness or sadness
Talking about death or wanting to die
Talking about being a “burden” to others
Spending time alone, instead of with family/friends
Difficulty talking about feelings
Sudden interest or disinterest in religion
A recent loss of any kind: Family, Friends, Etc
Feeling Trapped
Drastic Change in Behavior
No Longer Cares about appearance
Decline in academic performance
Frequently tardy or not attending school regularly
Running away
Mood swings
Giving away items that they once cared about
Drug or alcohol abuse
Current self harm (cutting, burning, etc)
Sleeping too little or too much
Previous suicide attempt

What are some risk factors for suicide?

Risk factors (things that increase the risk of suicide) vary with age, gender, and culture. They may occur in combination or change over time. Some important risk factors are:

Depression and other mental disorders
Substance abuse disorder (often in combination with other mental disorders)
Prior suicide attempts
Family history of suicide
Family violence including physical or sexual abuse
Firearms in the home
Incarceration
Exposure to suicidal behavior of others, such as family members or peers

It is important to note that many people who have these risk factors are not suicidal.

What can I do?

Ask & Listen: Asking does not cause dangerous thoughts, and direct questions are best.

“Have you been unhappy lately?”
“Have you been so unhappy that you have thoughts about dying?”
Ask if they have a plan to harm themselves and if they have access.
Believe them and take their threats seriously, rather than viewing their words as “dramatic”
Offer Hope

Take Precautions: The top 3 Adolescent Suicide Methods are firearms, suffocation, overdose (2010 CDC)

Lock up guns and ammunitions (to further increase safety lock up ammunitions and guns separately)
Keep all medications locked at all times (including OTC medications such as Tylenol)
Monitor your child’s Facebook, text messages, and other communication
Get to know your children’s friends and their parents
Help your children build positive supports and participate in activities they enjoy

Suicide Prevention

We can all save lives

Common Questions

Resources For Suicide Prevention

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