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Welcome! This webpage is designed to support Washington State government and public employees in preventing and responding to suicide. Our goal is to provide employees and management with tools, resources, and support to equip you to respond effectively when employees are impacted by suicide, whether personally or in the workplace.
If you are looking for information not specific to state government employees, please visit the Department of Health Suicide Resource page.
Important Note: This site is for informational/educational purposes and is not intended to replace crisis intervention services. If you or someone else is at immediate risk of suicide, please don't wait -- contact 911 or call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255.
If you or someone you care about is at immediate risk of suicide, don't wait: call 911 or go to a hospital ER. Emergency responders are trained to help you get to the other side of this crisis and help you find ongoing support.
You are not alone—each year in the United States, almost 10 million adults seriously think about suicide. Help is available in a number of ways:
You don't have to be a professional counselor to learn a few basic steps to check in on someone who seems like they might be hurting. You can potentially save a life by understanding the warning signs of someone thinking about suicide and learning the simple ways you can talk with them about it.
*If you think someone might be at immediate risk of self-harm, call 9-1-1*
Developed by the Forefront Suicide Prevention program at the University of Washington, there are five simple steps you can follow to support a friend, loved one, or co-worker who might be suicidal:
(Download and print a one page handout on the LEARN model and keep it as a reference)
People often try to keep their private lives separate from work, but coworkers can play an important role in supporting a person who is struggling. Many people spend the majority of their waking hours at the workplace. Coworkers may be the first ones to notice changes in behavior that could suggest risk for suicide.
While you have no formal responsibility to intervene, you may be worried about someone and wondering what you could do to help. This downloadable guide, The Role of Co-Workers in Preventing Suicide in the Workplace, is a good resource.
We know this is uncomfortable. When you reach out to help someone who is struggling, they might initially be reactive and emotional, not grateful. In fact, the person might be angry with you. But it's better to err on the side of keeping someone alive than to ignore your concern for fear of upsetting someone.
*If you think someone might be at immediate risk of self-harm, call 9-1-1*
We encourage you to take action if you think someone might be considering suicide. Red flags might include:
Supervisors, managers, and human resources play an important role in workplace health and safety. You might be the first person who notices a concerning change in an employee's behavior. Other employees may confide in you that they are worried about a coworker. Or, an employee could directly tell you that they are feeling suicidal. While your role is not to replace a mental health professional or crisis service, you can be prepared to respond in a caring and helpful way to an employee who is having a mental health crisis or who expresses thoughts of suicide. You can always call the EAP for consultation, 24/7.
If someone is at immediate risk of self-harm at work or when they leave work, call 911 (or designate another person to call 911). If it does not put you at risk, stay with the person, preferably in a quiet place so they can have some privacy, until help arrives. Contact the EAP and HR to discuss next steps.
Each situation is unique, and we recommend that you always seek professional consultation by calling the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255 at or the Washington State Employee Assistance Program at 1-877-313-4455.
The same advice on the "How to Help a Coworker" page can be applied, and the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline has a helpful page that walks you through steps to help someone, but here are additional considerations if you are a supervisor, manager, or HR professional:
Employees can be deeply impacted by suicide in many ways: by the suicide or attempted suicide of a coworker or a client, by a suicide or attempted suicide at or near the worksite, or by the suicide of a friend, family member, or acquaintance. There is an immediate crisis to tend to, but sometimes the impact can be long-lasting. People are at higher risk of suicide if they know someone who has died by suicide (sometimes called "suicide contagion"), so caring for those impacted by suicide is also an important prevention measure.
The grief of losing a loved one to suicide can feel unbearable. You are not alone, and help is available.
Contact the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention's Peer Support for Survivors of Suicide Loss program.
Crisis Connections offers free care packages for families in WA and also has a peer phone-based resource called CC Cares Companion Mentor.
Find resources for survivors of suicide from the Suicide Prevention Resource Center.
UW's Forefront has a page with resources for those bereaved by suicide.
There are local support groups for Survivors of Suicide across Washington State.
The Washington State Employee Assistance Program can provide you with free and confidential face-to-face or phone counseling if you have lost someone to suicide. To set up an appointment with a counselor, please call us at 1-877-313-4455.
Thank you for coming to this page to learn more facts and statistics about suicide. To address a problem, we must first understand it. Here are a few websites that provide more information about suicide and provide information on what is being done locally to prevent suicide:
Washington State Suicide Prevention Plan from the WA State Department of Health
Washington Suicide data from May 2018 (power point)
WA Suicide & Safe Storage of Firearms fact sheet from March 2018
Suicide Information and Statistics from the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention
Understanding suicide by occupation from the Suicide Prevention Resource Center
Infographic on the Rising Rates of Suicide from the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)
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