CN: suicide, self harm

One major thing you can do for your friends and community members who are sharing about their suicidal ideation is...

don't report.

I'm serious. People need places to vent and they don't need to be penalized for that.

CN: suicide, self harm

Yeah, it makes me uncomfortable, too, when people are sharing about suicidal ideation. My inclination is to do something to help, but I'm not very good at emotions.

It turns out the helpful thing is just not shutting them out or shutting them down.

CN: suicide, self harm

It's possible that you'll need to protect your own mental health by limiting your exposure to people who post about suicidal ideation or self harm.

And that's understandable and there are strategies for doing that without harming others.

CN: suicide, self harm

I know the idea of not reporting someone in need of mental healthcare so they can get that care seems irresponsible.

One big problem: we don't live in a world where telling the people in charge someone needs help means that person gets the help they need.

CN: suicide, self harm, police brutality

A major trend we see is "mental health checks" involving police ending with the violent death of the person being checked on. Or major harm to them.

That's just one possible result of reporting.

CN: suicide, self harm

Another problem is that not everyone has equal access to competent, responsible, relevant, effective mental healthcare.

Depending on your life situation, it can be really hard to find someone to help you who's going to get you and not make things worse.

CN: suicide, self harm

Also, for some people, even those whose mental health is relatively well managed, suicidal ideation is a fact of their lives.

It's not really helpful to force them to deal with tons of extra crap trying to reassure everyone else they're basically okay.

CN: suicide, self harm

These thoughts I'm sharing? I got them from other folks on Twitter who've said what they need when they're talking about feeling suicidal.

This is how I've learned to respond to this stuff in my Twitter community.

CN: suicide, self harm

I'm not an expert on this.

I just pay attention to what people say they need.

I encourage others to do the same.