Philosophy
HelpLine endorses the public health approach to preventing depression and suicide. Our programs use a universal strategy that ensures every person, without regard to exposure of the problem, has access to improving their mental wellness, knowledge, attitudes, and skills related to these issues.
Mission
The suicide prevention program at HelpLine aims to raise awareness on suicide and its risk factors. By offering education and training, our program seeks to increase the number of community members who can respond to a person who needs help. We also provide advocacy and support to those who are grieving the loss of a loved one by suicide. Click here for more information on Survivor of Suicide Advocacy.
Signs of Depression and Suicide
How to Respond to Someone Showing These Signs:
- QUESTION:
If you believe someone is considering suicide, ask them directly “Are you thinking about suicide or wanting to kill yourself?” Remember that if you ask someone if they want to kill themselves, this does NOT drive them toward that action – that’s a myth. - PERSUADE:
Persuade the person to allow you to assist them in getting help right now. Say “Will you go with me to get help?” Another option can be to enlist their promise not to kill themselves until you’ve arranged help for them. If persuasion doesn’t work, call HelpLine or emergency services. - REFER:
Refer the person to an appropriate resource for assistance. It’s ideal if you can personally escort them to see a health care professional. Next best would be to assist in making arrangements for help and getting their agreement to follow through on this plan.
For personalized help responding, call our 24/7, crisis hotline at 1.800.684.2324 (Delaware: 740.369.3316 or Morrow: 419.947.2520).
Making Change Visible (see online brochure for more information)
The suicide prevention program at HelpLine offers a variety of services to school and the community including:
- Middle and High School Suicide/Depression Prevention
Signs of Suicide Middle School, Signs of Suicide High School
We use evidence-based programming along with Safe Messaging guidelines to provide teens with age-appropriate skills to get help. - Community Gatekeeper Training
Signs of Distress
We provide best-practice trainings to community organizations to educate them on the warning signs in their population and basic ways to respond and refer. - Community Intervention Trainings
- Question. Persuade. Refer. – QPR, A Gatekeeper Suicide Prevention Training
- Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training (ASIST)
We offer suicide intervention training to help provide caregivers with the tools needed to identify a person at risk of suicide and provide intervention and referral. See Connections website for upcoming dates and CEU information.
- Community Collaboration
Delaware Suicide Prevention Coalition (DSPC)
We collaborate with various schools and community resources to lead the DSPC. Our main goal is to increase community awareness through a variety of approaches, including gathering statistics, providing information, and organizing the annual suicide prevention walk.
