Okay, so maybe you don’t right this second. You lost your
job. Your wife left you. You can’t stop cutting. You can’t stop starving. The world
is a horrible place. But it doesn’t always have to be. Any second now, someone
could knock on your door right…now. Give you $1,000,000,000/sweep you off your
feet/ give you a big hug. Somewhere out there cares, even if it doesn’t seem
like, and if all else fails I do, drop me a line in our email and I’ll get back
to you from my own email/skype/phone/tumblr/homing pigeon.
Suicide prevention makes me sad, sad that we need this week
and sad that so often it fails. The easiest thing to do is confront someone
your concerned about if you think they may be suicidal. By confront I do not
mean “get better, I am unwilling to help someone with a mental illness who
doesn’t try and get better”, I mean make them tea and cookies. Tell them you
love them. Let them know you’re there for them. If they don’t want to speak
about it, let them know that’s okay too, but you’ll be there for them when they
do. Give them constructive things to do and spend time doing useless things
like painting with your hands. Do your research, is this person going through
personal issues you could help with (don’t but your nose in where it isn’t
wanted though!). Or maybe you feel they fit a profile for a mental illness,
encourage them to take the first steps in seeking help. There’s no formula for
making someone feel better, but trying, even if you fail, is worth the effort.
If you didn’t notice the signs, don’t blame yourself, it’s
human nature to be self-centred, just try harder to care about others from now
on.
Some tips for emergencies:
·
If you find someone bleeding too much
o
Apply immediate pressure to the wound, don’t be
afraid to press hard and hurt you want to stop blood flow to the area
o
Elevate the site of wound, for example, hold an
arm above their head
o
Keep them from going into shock, speak to them
and try and keep them awake, offer a sugary drink
o
I don’t recommend trying this but coconut milk
is isotonic with blood so it can be used as an emergency transfusion
o
To further stop blood flow you can tie a tight
bandage (a shoe lace will do) at the base of the limb, but be careful, if blood
flow is cut off too long their cells can begin to die.
o
Keep them warm, use blankets and anything
available
o
Obviously first you should call 911/999 whatever
your emergency number is.
·
If you think someone has overdosed and they are conscious
o
Make them stay awake and walk around
o
Feed them water saturated with salt and hopefully
they’ll throw up, make sure they don’t choke though, learn the Heimlich or if
all else fails clear their airways manually (it’s not recommended to do this
because of the risk of lodging the blockage further down their throat but in
dire circumstances you may need to)
o
Again call for medical aid
·
If they’re not
o
Call for medical aid, there’s not much you can
do here, try and identify what it is they took and how much, this may make
professional treatment easier
o
Put them in the recovery position, if you don’t
know it roll them gently onto their side and keep a close eye on them
·
Drowning
o
This is one I don’t know much about I’m afraid,
but if there are strong currents do not dive in after them, especially if the
water is cold, the danger is too great to yourself
o
Learn mouth to mouth resuscitation, use this
o
Keep them warm, the water will make them lose
heat extremely fast
There’s
a million different methods of suicide, I’ve covered some common ones, but my
advice is no substitute for medical training, lots of schools and universities
offer short and often free courses in basic first aid if this is something that
keeps you awake at night I recommend taking one, you never know when it might
come in handy.
As
I’m signing off, if a loved one or someone close to you is suicidal don’t take
it to heart if you hear something along the lines of “if you do this, I’ll kill
myself” (I actually got this from an ex boyfriend), and yes it is rather
hurtful of them to say something of the sort, remember what a hard time they
are going through at the moment, it’s not your fault (unless you’re a bully or
something in which case stop being a dick) it’s mental illness speaking, they
need help, not anger.
Todostrieb
