Table of contents
- Disclaimer
- Recommended citation
- Acknowledgements
- Introduction - Suicide prevention and first aid
- Early detection of risk – Suicide and the relationship with mental disorders
- Talking about suicide and mental health issues
- Suicide prevention – Risk assessment in general practice
- Suicide prevention – Ongoing care for patients and self-care for GPs
- Suicide prevention and first aid resource tool kit
- Disclaimer
- Recommended citation
- Acknowledgements
- Introduction - Suicide prevention and first aid
- Early detection of risk – Suicide and the relationship with mental disorders
- Talking about suicide and mental health issues
- Suicide prevention – Risk assessment in general practice
- Suicide prevention – Ongoing care for patients and self-care for GPs
- Suicide prevention and first aid resource tool kit
Responding to patients who might be at risk of suicide
If patients disclose symptoms, thoughts or feelings that might indicate a mental illness, mental health issue or suicidality, some things that might help you work positively with your patients, are to:
- normalise your patient’s feelings
- use people first language – talk about mental health issues, mental illness and mental disorders as being separate to the person, not as defining them
- give patients clear messages of recovery
- acknowledge how scary it must feel to have thoughts of suicide.