What to do if you fear someone is suicidal

[SingingBabooshkaBadly]

Without going into details, as it is a very long story, if you fear someone may be suicidal, or in danger of becoming suicidal, once you have exhausted all efforts to get them to seek help for themselves, what can you do? The person in question has been referred for a telephone consultation with a psychiatrist in the past but says they cannot talk about their problems on the phone.

I can see there are any number of reasons why the authorities would not respond on the say so of a random person calling them but DH is at his wits end about a friend he fears is going to end up harming himself and we have no idea what we can do.

There is a link on here to call urgent nhs mental health line when you are concerned for someone. If they are actively suicidal you can take them to A&E. You can call the police for a welfare check for someone you are concerned about too.
www.nhs.uk/using-the-nhs/nhs-services/mental-health-services/dealing-with-a-mental-health-crisis-or-emergency/

How suicidal are they? If they are in immediate danger ie actually in the act of committing self harm, then you can contact the emergency services.

Otherwise, if they are at the stage of contemplating a harm, unfortunately there is not a tremendous amount you can do for them. They will only be sectioned if they do not have mental capacity. IME it's not as easy to get someone sectioned as people would have you believe.

Are you the nearest relative? You can request a Mental Health Act assessment. It also might be worth speaking to the GP and seeing if they can get the Crisis team involved. Although it gets difficult if the person in question won't speak to medical professionals. If you can go to A and E with them that would be good.

vimeo.com/338176393
This is by nhs Scotland but might help

Thank you all for your replies.

To answer some questions:

He isn’t in the act of self-harming but we are convinced this is highly likely if he doesn’t get help soon. We aren’t related at all and don’t live near him. DH is in touch with him by phone and text.

He has passed on the mental health crisis line number but one of the issues is his friend is unable to push himself to seek help.

We’re currently trying to trace the numbers of his adult children.

Thanks again, I really do appreciate your help.

Call 111. Lots of areas have a mental health option (option 2) and will give you good advice

I would call 111, or try to get them to rong their GP in hours.

Try to let go of the fear and the urge to feel responsible. By all means take action to help but ultimately it is not easy and a person harming themselves is not something you can often prevent.