4.4 Identifying and talking about suicidal thoughts and behaviours

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Trigger warning. Mental health crisis and suicidal thoughts.

The content in this section mentions suicidal thoughts and suicide so please read with care or skip to Section 5, which details further help and support.

Thoughts of suicide are more common than many people might think. Around a fifth of adults will at some point have thoughts about ending their own life (McManus et al., 2016). However, this does not mean that the person will go on to do it. A strong correlation has also been found between self-harm and future suicide (Geulayov et al., 2019) but self-harm and suicide are not the same and do not always carry the same risk. Suicidal thoughts are just that; they are thoughts and do not necessarily have any specific actions or intentions associated with them. For many, these thoughts will be fleeting and pass. For others they might be more persistent and enduring and when they are, an individual can go on to display behaviours associated with these thoughts.

Suicidal behaviours are demonstrated in learners when they start to make plans to explore their desire or intention to end their own life. These behaviours can include researching methods and places, being active on pro-suicide websites and making arrangements around personal matters, which is sometimes referred to as ‘putting your affairs in order’.

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A person sitting in between two statues.

Identifying when a learner is having these thoughts or behaviours is not always easy and, as an educator, you are not responsible for identifying them. However, various things that a learner says, or ways in which they act, could be an indicator. Having this awareness can help you to communicate within the boundaries of your role and appropriately with a learner to identify relevant support.

It may be difficult for learners to disclose that they are having suicidal thoughts, and cultural issues and stigma (explored in more depth in Weeks 5 and 6) can make it even harder. Some may find it easier to share such thoughts with those they feel close to, or with someone they know well and trust. As an educator, this might mean that your learner opens up to you, or possibly other learners.

Suicidal thoughts and feelings might be communicated by learners in their written work, or verbally, but the communication may not necessarily be clear; their language may be ambiguous, tentative or very subtle and open to interpretation. However, there are some commonly expressed sentiments, which you can look out for. Next, you’ll explore some of the language that someone might use if they are having suicidal thoughts.