Dealing with suicide threats | Depression – Information for relatives

Dealing with suicide threats

Suicide threats are not uncommon in connection with depression and must be taken seriously. Nothing is worse than ignoring or trivialising them. It doesn’t matter whether they were actually meant seriously or were just said.

We can never know 100% what is really going on in the patient. In most cities you will find crisis intervention teams where you can get advice. One should definitely encourage the patient to seek professional help.

In addition, the teams will help you with many tips. For example, if you have the feeling that the depressed person is in acute danger of dying, you should not hesitate to alert the emergency services and the police. There are also hotlines that the patient can contact in an acute situation.

One should definitely make him/her aware of this possibility. Acute situations require special procedures. Even if the patient does not want rescue and police to be informed, you should do so, even if in the worst case you violate trust.

Enlighten people

Especially other family members, especially children, should know what is going on with the person concerned. It is important to inform the close relatives so that everyone can pull together. Nevertheless, no decisions should be made behind the patient’s back. If he or she does not want certain people to know about his or her illness, these wishes should be taken into account in any case. A depressed person is still a responsible person.

Depression as a reason for separation?

Depression is a serious mental illness that can be stressful not only for the person affected but also for the relatives. Relationships in particular are put to the test and are so severely strained that almost every second relationship can also break up due to the depression of one partner. Although a separation is often very difficult for both parties involved, one partner may not be able to cope with the burden of the illness.

If the depression is the only reason for a separation, it is advisable to inform the social environment of the person affected about the intention to separate, so that friends and family know in time and can prepare themselves for a possible worsening of the problems. However, it is not possible to give general advice on how to behave after the separation, as this depends on many factors such as the severity of the depression or the relationship of the ex-partner after the separation. It is useful to discuss the role in the life of the ex-partner with the therapist in advance.

Also the question of whether to give the relationship a second chance after a successful therapy or under other circumstances depends very much on one’s own and the partner’s discretion. Nevertheless, one should try to make the understanding of the disease clear and signal to the person affected that he or she is not to blame for his or her condition.