{"id":1948,"date":"2020-09-11T10:46:56","date_gmt":"2020-09-11T10:46:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/er\/healthierminds\/?page_id=1948"},"modified":"2024-08-06T13:32:41","modified_gmt":"2024-08-06T13:32:41","slug":"starting-the-conversation","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/er\/healthierminds\/experiencing-distress-and-suicidal-thoughts\/starting-the-conversation\/","title":{"rendered":"Starting the Conversation"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Often, people can be afraid to start the conversation about suicide as they may feel that they do not have &#8216;specialist knowledge&#8217; or worry that that by mentioning suicide they will put the idea into someones head.\u00a0 Research shows that this is not the case, instead, everyone has the ability to help someone suffering with suicidal thoughts and by starting the conversation you can make a real difference.<\/p>\n<div class=\"jetpack-video-wrapper\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Small Talk Saves Lives - Everyday small talk\" width=\"660\" height=\"371\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/b4oQdeBJgRI?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\n<h3>Look for Signs<\/h3>\n<p>It may not always be obvious that someone is having suicidal thoughts or planning on taking their own life.\u00a0 A list of warning signs can be found <a href=\"https:\/\/www.startaconversation.co.uk\/worried\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<h3>Starting the Conversation<\/h3>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/er\/public\/healthierminds\/uploads\/sites\/18270\/2022\/07\/28153924\/The-Art-of-Conversation-A-Guide-to-Talking-about-Suicide.pdf\">The Art of Conversation A Guide to Talking about Suicide<\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><strong>Look for signs<\/strong> that someone might want to talk about something:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span class=\"s1\">&#8220;I\u2019ve noticed you\u2019ve not been yourself lately&#8221;<\/span><\/li>\n<li class=\"p1\">&#8220;I\u2019ve noticed you\u2019ve been really quiet recently&#8221;<\/li>\n<li class=\"p1\">&#8220;I\u2019ve noticed you\u2019ve not been on the whatsapp group as much&#8221;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">The phrase \u2018I\u2019ve noticed\u2019 is a very caring and non-threatening way to show someone you are worried about them and offers them the opportunity to talk if they are ready to.<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">I\u2019ve noticed\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026.is there anything you would like to talk about?<\/span><\/li>\n<li class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">I was a bit worried when\u2026..is there anything on your mind?<\/span><\/li>\n<li class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Can you tell me what\u2019s going on for you right now?<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">\u00a0<\/span><span class=\"s1\"><strong>Be persistent<\/strong>, often people will say they are fine when they\u2019re not. Explain why you are concerned and remind them you are there to talk whenever they are ready.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">\u00a0<\/span><span class=\"s1\"><strong>Use open questions<\/strong>, reflect back feelings, clarify what you\u2019ve heard. Avoid coming up with solutions or disagreeing with them (\u2018you do have friends\u2019, \u2018you are great at your job\u2019 \u2013 while you mean well the person will not feel listened to).<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><strong>Ask if the person is thinking about suicide<\/strong> \u2013 it can be very uncomfortable to ask but will help you both to know how serious the situation is. Asking someone about suicide will not make them think about suicide.<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">&#8220;Sometimes when people feel as down as you do they are thinking about suicide. Have you thought about suicide?&#8221;<\/span><\/li>\n<li class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">&#8220;Sometimes when people have the feelings you describe they thinking about ending their life. Has this been on your mind?&#8221;<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p class=\"p1\"><strong><span class=\"s1\">\u00a0<\/span><span class=\"s1\">Empathise:<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">&#8220;That sounds really difficult&#8221;<\/span><\/li>\n<li class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">&#8220;That must have been so hard&#8221;<\/span><\/li>\n<li class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">&#8220;I can\u2019t imagine what that must feel like&#8221;<\/span><\/li>\n<li class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">&#8220;I\u2019m sorry to hear you feel so lonely&#8221;<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3><\/h3>\n<h3>Listening Tips<\/h3>\n<p>Once you have started the conversation, the next step is to actively listen to them. \u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.samaritans.org\/scotland\/how-we-can-help\/if-youre-worried-about-someone-else\/how-support-someone-youre-worried-about\/what-do-if-you-think-someone-struggling\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Samaritans<\/a> have information on how to support someone you are worried about &#8211; click to picture below to access.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-1956\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/er\/public\/healthierminds\/uploads\/sites\/18270\/2020\/09\/11111836\/Screen-Shot-2020-09-11-at-12.16.22.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"279\" height=\"258\" \/><\/p>\n<h3>Getting Support<\/h3>\n<p>Having a conversation about suicide with someone can be overwhelming and bring up many emotions in yourself &#8211; this is not something that you need to face alone.\u00a0 Make sure that you yourself reach out and look after yourself if you are struggling with this information or need some support.\u00a0 Helplines are also open to those supporting<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Often, people can be afraid to start the conversation about suicide as they may feel that they do not have &#8216;specialist knowledge&#8217; or worry that that by mentioning suicide they will put the idea into someones head.\u00a0 Research shows that this is not the case, instead, everyone has the ability to help someone suffering with &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/er\/healthierminds\/experiencing-distress-and-suicidal-thoughts\/starting-the-conversation\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Starting the Conversation<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":35971,"featured_media":0,"parent":1583,"menu_order":4,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-1948","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/er\/healthierminds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1948","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/er\/healthierminds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/er\/healthierminds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/er\/healthierminds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/35971"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/er\/healthierminds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1948"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/er\/healthierminds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1948\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3243,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/er\/healthierminds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1948\/revisions\/3243"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/er\/healthierminds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1583"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/er\/healthierminds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1948"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}