How should somebody react if somebody reaches out and says they’re considering suicide? And if somebody tells you they’re considering suicide, the first thing to try to remember to do is to not panic. That scary to here. It’s a beta here, and it’s normal to feel panic. I think being as honest as possible is also really good because people can sense how you’re feeling a lot of the time, and they’re going to be really in tune to how you’re reacting already.

I would say start with saying thank you for sharing that with me and acknowledging, but it was a really vulnerable thing to do and say, I don’t know how to do this either, but we’ll figure it out together or this is a little bit scary, and I want to be there to support you while you work through it. There’s nothing bad about acknowledging that you’re scared to. The power connection is really with the individual needs and what they’re asking for, and sometimes you can reach out and look for those next steps together.

I think understanding that suicide ideation is common is important for a couple of reasons. First off, if somebody reaches out to you, it’s helpful to know that this isn’t an isolated situation.

This isn’t rare, and so there’s lots of resources that you can help that person get connected to for support, and you don’t have to help navigate this alone just because it was shared with you. But I think when you’re struggling, it’s even more important to know that or to trust that because it feels so isolating and that isolation will go away a little bit at a time as you receive support and as you start to open up about that and feel like you’re connected to individuals in the community of people who can help you through this.

But knowing that you’re not alone, knowing that a lot of people go through this is a really important thing.