My friend wants to kill herself - I need your help

[Nefertiti0906]

unless you are direct family, you have no power or authority to get her involuntarily committed.

if she is an IMMEDIATE THREAT TO HERSELF OR OTHERS, then you can call the police (make sure you are there on the scene with her) and tell them what YOU saw or heard IN YOUR PRESENCE that proves she is an immediate threat. it will be better if you get her to tell them herself and then the police will have the authority to take her for a 72-hour evaluation even if the family objects.

that is the only way i know that YOU can get her involuntarily committed and it not be stopped by her husband or family. but it must be an immediate threat to herself or others and the police have to do it.

if she get committed, this may leave an opening for her husband to take her son away from her.

please try to encourage her to leave asap and seek free, professional secular counseling at a women's shelter in addition to spiritual guidance from a/her church. the two are not the same. church counseling is not the same as psychological counseling and vice versa.


when did she almost stab herself? how long ago? how did you learn of this?

In the last month, I just found out EVERYTHING yesterday erplexed

 

[Nefertiti0906]

Why is she acting like she MUST stay with this man for the rest of her life?

Is she from one of those cultures where she'll bring shame on the family if she divorces her husband? If not, then I don't see what the problem is.

She is, we're both West African...

 

[Kerryann]

She need to walk into a church immediately to get some help and she needs to go by herself not with husband at this point i think its too far gone

 

[Laela]

Nefertiti, sorry to hear about your friend. I pray she seeks help and get to talk to someone who will not only listen, but understand. She needs that right now...

God bless

 

[Supervixen]

Call 9-1-1 immediately. There's nothing else you can do.

 

[tada1]

TELL HER THAT YOU ARE GOING TO TELL SOMEBODY! and then TELL SOMEBODY!
if you have free time, spend it with her. show her pictures of people she loves. encourage her to occupy her time meaningfully. contact a local church and tell the pastor to reach out to her and invite her to bible study or similar close knits small activities. everytime she brings it up tell her its a bad idea. call her regularly. send her encouraging text messages. above all if you are Christian, pray for her diligently because God can do things that are too difficult for us regular folk to do.

 

[tada1]

oh yeah. and laugh with her often. you know what they say, laughter is the best medicine

 

[Nyssa28]

I'd try to convince her to separate from him at least until she agrees to go to counseling for wanting to kill herself.

 

[Ms Red]

Daydreams about killing herself?

Please call 9-1-1 and make sure she gets a 72 hr. hold. Not so sure how easy it is to do this (in your state), but I would hate for her to go through this and leave her 1 year old without a mother. And you could have possibly helped her.

Some immediate meds and counseling are in order, I think, to regain mental stability. I just said a prayer for her.

 

[Nefertiti0906]

UPDATE

Thanks ladies for the advise. I reached out to my friend's sister and told her everything. We plan to go talk to her together tonight at her house. And we also plan to involve her mother. Based on how tonight goes, I'll let them know about the 72 hour surveillance watch...

I am so stressed right now and scared. Please pray for us.

 

[Nefertiti0906]

TELL HER THAT YOU ARE GOING TO TELL SOMEBODY! and then TELL SOMEBODY!
if you have free time, spend it with her. show her pictures of people she loves. encourage her to occupy her time meaningfully. contact a local church and tell the pastor to reach out to her and invite her to bible study or similar close knits small activities. everytime she brings it up tell her its a bad idea. call her regularly. send her encouraging text messages. above all if you are Christian, pray for her diligently because God can do things that are too difficult for us regular folk to do.

I just told her sister and thankfully her sister did not over react. I live in a different state so it'll be hard to spend time with her, but thanks for the other tips. I'll follow up on them...

 

[PaleoChick]

I PM'ed you.

 

[laCriolla]

If you think she's going to hurt herself, take her to the hospital, and if you can't get her to go then call the police. better to lose a friend than a life.

 

[Farida]

have her placed on suicide watch. I'm serious. DH's friend did that years ago, and people dismissed it. He was found hours later and had to be rushed to hospital to have his stomach pumped.

 

[laCriolla]

OP, didn't you post about this friend a few months back? or before?

 

[Nefertiti0906]

have her placed on suicide watch. I'm serious. DH's friend did that years ago, and people dismissed it. He was found hours later and had to be rushed to hospital to have his stomach pumped.

What exactly did he do? Did people try to talk to him?

 

[Farida]

What exactly did he do? Did people try to talk to him?

He took a bunch of pills...luckily the pills he took can't kill you...but they can destroy your liver. He didn't do his homework...which is a good thing.

Especially watch out if she becomes happy all of a sudden. People who want to kill themselves tend to randomly start acting super happy, or giving away their stuff...because they are at peace because they decided to end their lives.

 

[ccd]

I'm praying for you and your friend. Sometimes things can get that overwhelming but by her telling you, she is asking for help..... She needs help now

 

[discobiscuits]

update? how is she?

 

[Nefertiti0906]

update? how is she?

Thanks for asking. She's doing a lot better since I found out this information last week. I've been communicating with her several times throughout the day, so has her sister. Today she told me that she thinks she just needs to talk to a therapist or counselor, so to me that was great news for her to admit that!

Please just continue to keep her in your prayers, she hasn't totally given up yet