Advice

People often attempt to commit suicide when they feel they've nothing to live for. Everyone has something to live for. Things change; they get better. Get clued-up on suicide here, including what to do if you're considering it or if a friend tells you they want to die...

What is it?

Suicide means deliberately ending our own life

• 19,000 people aged 15-24 attempt suicide each year in the UK
• About 800 die as a result.
• Girls are more likely to attempt suicide than boys
• Boys are more likely to die from their suicide attempt
• Suicide rates in young men have doubled since 1985

Why do people commit suicide?

Often, they have been feeling stressed or down for some time.
Things like family problems, exam pressure or bullying can make us unhappy.
We feel despair. There seems no way out of our problems. Nobody seems to help. We think we'd rather be dead.
Sometimes there is a 'final straw': We get dumped, fail an exam or feel threatened.
We can get confused and frightened. We may drink alcohol or take drugs. Then we get self destructive.

Isn't it our own right to die?

Suicide is not illegal, but that doesn't mean there are no victims. The impact on our friends and families is devastating and lasts forever.
Helping someone else to end their life is illegal.

I wish I was dead?...

• Most of us have felt this way at some point. It is frightening and confusing when you see no way out, and it's easy to think that dying will make us feel better. It won't.
• There is an alternative. You have a future and a lot to offer in life. Your circumstances have just got in the way. Hopelessness never lasts forever.
• Ask for help loudly and clearly. You don't need to harm yourself to make people notice. There are many people who care about you and what happens to you. Some of them you haven't met yet.
• Call The Samaritans or Childline.
• Now speak to your GP. I am a GP. And I wish more young people came to tell me how rubbish they feel. So that we can get them some support, figure out what's gone wrong and help to put things right again.

My friend wants to kill themselves?...

This is a very frightening time for both of you.

You don't need to provide the answers - just listen to how they feel.
Avoid joking them out of it, or dismissing this as attention-seeking.
Try to persuade them to get some help. If in doubt, tell an adult. You may (temporarily) lose a mate. But this may stop you (and everyone else) losing them permanently.