Suffocation & Strangulation
It can be challenging to limit access to some types of means within the home. If you are concerned that someone in your home is at risk for suicide, have a conversation with them. Ask directly if they have thought about how they might attempt suicide, or what items they might use. Most often, people thinking about suicide have specific methods they plan to use and oftentimes they don’t deviate from their plan. Identifying an intended method can help you make a plan to reduce access to particular means.
In the Home
1. Take a good look around your home.
Reducing access to certain items ( e.g., ropes, belts, sharp objects, and plastic bags) and ligature points (e.g., beams, doorknobs, trees, showerheads), as well as keeping doors unlocked (e.g., changing knobs to non-lockable) can prevent a suicide attempt or reduce lethality of an attempt. However, it is important to acknowledge that these can be challenging to limit for prolonged periods or permanently.
2. Complete a safety plan.
The Safety Planning Intervention is one strategy that has shown to help keep people safe. A Safety Plan should be developed to help a person identify their own coping skills and support options. SuicideSafetyPlan.com opens in a new window offers further information on how to develop an effective safety plan. Consider downloading the “Stanley-Brown Safety Plan” mobile app on Iphone or Google Play.
If you are thinking about suicide, visit the Now Matters Now website opens in a new window which features personal stories by those who have survived suicidal thoughts by using research-based coping strategies. Their website offers a safety plan opens in a new windowopens PDF file and additional resources.
3. Stay vigilant and seek a higher level of care if needed.
If you are concerned that a loved one is at high risk for suicide and has identified strangulation, sharp objects, or suffocation as their preferred method for dying, a higher level of professional care may be needed such as an inpatient psychiatric unit. Have an open conversation with your loved one to explore the options that will keep them safe.
4. You are not alone.
You are not alone in helping someone in crisis. Crisis lines, counselors, intervention programs, and more are available to you as well as to the person experiencing a crisis. They can quickly assess the level of risk in a situation and connect you to appropriate services. Most suicidal crises last for a brief period of time. While you’re getting support, stay with the person and remove items that could be used in an attempt.
Familiarize yourself with crisis lines and community resources available to you. For immediate help call or text 988, or chat 988lifeline.org opens in a new window to reach the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline.
Additional Resources
Safety Planning Intervention
This website opens in a new window provides resources, materials, and video tutorials to learn how to be effective when developing a safety plan. Additional information is also provided in this webinar opens in a new window provided by the Joint Commission (“Suicide Prevention Webinar: Implementing the Safety Planning Intervention in Your Organization”).
Counseling on Access to Lethal Means
This free online course opens in a new window focuses on how to reduce access to the methods people use to kill themselves. While this course is primarily designed for mental health professionals, others who work with people at risk for suicide, such as health care providers and social service professionals, may also benefit.
Joint Commission Suicide Reduction Tools
This website opens in a new window provides an overview of the seven essential elements of suicide care for health and behavioral health care systems to adopt, which were identified by the Action Alliance’s Clinical Care and Intervention Task Force.
Zero Suicide Model
This website opens in a new window provides information on a suicide care model outlining specific practices for health systems to use and a movement that seeks to make health care settings safer and more compassionate for people with suicidal thoughts and urges.
National Commission on Correctional Health Care, Suicide Prevention Portal
This website opens in a new window details requirements for a comprehensive, multipronged suicide prevention and intervention program in various settings: Jails, Prisons, Juvenile Facilities, Mental Health Services and Opioid Treatment Programs.
U.S. Marshall’s Service, Suicide Prevention and Recommended Practices
This website opens in a new window provides specific resources that are directly relevant to the DOJ Condition of Confinement Suicide Prevention initiatives.
Postvention Resources
A significant number of people exposed to suicide have negative and long-term mental health consequences, including increased risk of suicide themselves. Postvention offers support and healing to suicide loss survivors that can reduce risk. Postvention plans can be constructed at the community level, city or county level, and within schools and workplaces.
After Rural Suicide: A Guide for Coordinated Community Response opens in a new window
After a Suicide: A Toolkit for Schools opens in a new windowopens PDF file
A Manager’s Guide to Suicide Postvention in the Workplace opens in a new window