- Work with someone you trust to develop a Safety Plan and share it with those you trust. The person who is helping you may need more information on the process of writing a safety plan. They can find the information here.
- Remove means (know the timing, place and method - remove the method and the opportunity e.g. lock the garage or the shed, remove guns etc)
- Use suicide prevention and support phone services and websites
- Distraction (by yourself and others) – can be temporary but helps to keep a person at least temporarily safe
- Know when and where to go for emergency psychiatric services
- Ensure the person’s GP is informed of risks with the person’s consent (or without consent if necessary if risk is high and immediate)
- Reduce the impact of potential risk issues (e.g. unhealthy relationships, drugs, risks of offending)
- Find trusted counselling, if affordable
- Build positive and meaningful social connections
- Get into meditation and/or mindfulness training
- Take regular exercise
- Avoid alcohol
- In an emergency don't hesitate to call the Police on 111
Local information and resources are available. WellSouth has developed Suicide Prevention Pathways for different parts of the Southern Region:
- Dunedin and Coastal Otago,
- Invercargill and Southland,
- Eastern Southland,
- Waitaki,
- Queenstown Lakes and Central Otago.
The poster by Wakatipu Suicide Postvention 2017 can be printed and displayed if you want to display information for people in your community
The poster for the 1737 free 24 hour text and phone counselling service can be found here