Guidelines for responding to suicidal students

Confidentiality versus health and safety

If a student expresses suicidal thoughts or has made plans then staff should take the following action. Students may ask for confidentiality under these circumstances, however health and safety considerations override a commitment to confidentiality, which can be broken if there is a risk that someone might harm others or themselves.

Assessing intent

If the student says they are feeling like committing suicide or feeling suicidal it is appropriate to check their intentions by asking if they have actively made plans to kill themselves. Be assured it will not increase the likelihood that they will commit suicide if you ask them this direct question.

  • If the student has actively made plans, or you have any concern that they will try to take their own life, you musttake action as outlined below.
  • If the student says they haven't made plans and don't intend to act on their suicidal thoughts, but are feeling deeply distressed, you should recommend that they speak to their GP or their mental health professional (if they have one). You can also offer contactdetails for the university counselling service and the mental health adviser.

If you feel unable to deal with this situation please ensure that you refer the student immediately to your manager or a senior member of staff.

Taking action

By telephone or face to face

If the student says they have actively made plans, or you have any concern that they will try to take their own life, you must take action.

  • If you have access to SITs checkif the student has declared mental health as a disability.
  • If yes, advise the student that you are going to contact the mental health adviser. If you are unable to contact the mental health adviseralert the Head of Student Support or another Senior member of staff in student Support.
  • If no, or you don’t have access to SITs advise the student that they should contact their GP, their mental health professional (if they have one) or attend A and E and inform the mental healthadviser.
  • If the student tells you that they see the mental health adviser regularly check if you can make them an urgent appointment.
  • If the student is not prepared to seek help then alertthe mental health adviser.
  • In the absence of the mental health adviser alert the Head of Student Support or other Senior Manager immediately so they can respond.
  • The Mental Health Adviser, Head of StudentSupport or other Senior Manager will contact the student to assess the situation and refer to the Crisis Team if necessary.

If the student is demonstrating an active intent to commit suicide on campus contact emergency services on 999.Inform the Head of Security and the Head of Student Supportor other Senior Manager.

You should tell the student what you are doing and why.

Email messages

Where the student expresses suicidal thoughts in an email, then you should respond to their e-mail immediately and advise them that you intend to alert the mentalhealth adviser who will make contact with them.

  • If the mental health advisor is not available you should advise the student that they should contact their GP or their mental health professional (if they have one) or attend A and E.
  • If the student isnot prepared to seek help then alert the Head of Student Supportor other Senior Manager immediately so they can respond.
  • The Head of Student Supportor other Senior Manager will contact the student to assess the situation and refer to the Crisis Team if necessary.

You should tell the student what you are doing and why.

Online forums

Where a message is posted on Breo or a universitywiki or blog that is moderated by staff, the moderator should contact the student by telephone and follow the procedures outlined above. If the moderatorfeels unable to deal with this situation thenthey should refer the student immediately to their manager or a senior member of staff.

If the post is anonymous then the moderator should post information on the site about support for a student experiencing suicidal thoughts.

The suggested wording would be: If you are in distress and feeling that life is difficult to cope with at present please make contact with your GP or contact Samarian on or by phone on 08457 909090

As with other inappropriate postings, the message should be removed as soon as possible. Reassure other students by adding an appropriate message stating: “for those who read the posting from [X] on [date], the situation is being dealt with offline”.

University sites using Facebook will be able tell Samaritans through Facebook's Help Centre, where they can report specific content such as status updates or wall posts.Typing the word "worried" into the help centre search engine will bring up a list of places to find advice as well as the option to report suicidal content.Once a report about suicidal content has been processed by the Facebook team, the distressed person will be sent a message with information on how they can contact the Samaritans if they need help.

The message will protect the identity of the person reporting their concerns and will read: "Someone is concerned about your well-being. Facebook has an agreement with Samaritans and we have sent them your email address so they can contact you within 12 hours. You can speak to them in confidence."

Debrief

Ensure that the events are reported to your line manager as soon as possible, and schedule in some time to talk the matter through. It is important to take care of your own mental health if you have been affected by the situation.

Contact details

Jill Gale

Mental Health Adviser

01582 489391

Counselling Service

BedfordCampus

01234 793333

Luton Campus

01582 489338

Further information

The Samaritans

Website:

Phone: UK 08457 909090

Email:

CALM Campaign against living miserably

Website:

Phone: 0800 585858

Raises awareness of depression amongst young men to reduce suicide risk.

Choose Life

Website:

Breathing Space Scotland

A confidential phone line service for anyone who is experiencing low mood or depression, or who is unusually worried and needs to talk.

Website:

Phone: 0800 838587

Befrienders Worldwide
Work worldwide to provide emotional support and reduce suicide.
Website:

Papyrus

UK national charity dedicated to the prevention of suicide and the promotion of positive mental health and emotional wellbeing in young people.

HOPELineUK0800 0684141