September, 10 is marked as the World Suicide Prevention Day. As of 2011, an estimated one million people per year die by suicide or “a death every 40 seconds or about 3,000 every day.”
To raise awareness of the problem and help identify those who might need help, the UK-based nonprofit Samaritans has teamed up with Facebook to release a guide “Help a friend in need.” The manual was originally created with The Jed Foundation and The Clinton Foundation.
It contains some general advice on how to act if you noticed your friend’s worrying behaviour, or what to reply on Facebook if you saw a worrying messages. Moreover, a user who’ve spotted some suspicious suicidal content on Facebook can report it by clicking the right-corner drop-down menu— 33 global Facebook’s partners will review it and take action.
Simon Milner, Facebook’s Head of Policy, UK & Ireland, commented: “Studies have shown that connectedness is crucial to people who may be at risk of suicide – reaching out and offering people support can be a life-saving act.
We created Help A Friend In Need because we want to make sure that friends and family have the resources to help identify when someone is distressed and know what steps to take, particularly in extreme cases where someone’s life might be in danger.”
The three-page simple guide can be viewed here at Samaritans Facebook page.