After an Attempt
A Guide for Taking Care of Your
Family Member after Treatment in
the Emergency Department
Acknowledgements
This brochure was originally developed by the National Alliance on Mental Illness
(www.nami.org) in partnership with the Suicide Prevention Resource Center (www.sprc.org)
under Grant Number 1.U79 SM55029-01 from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health
Services Administration (SAMHSA), U. S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).
Disclaimer
The views, opinions, and content of this publication are those of the author and do not necessarily
reflect the views, opinions, or policies of SAMHSA or HHS. The listing of non-federal resources in
this document is not comprehensive, and inclusion does not constitute endorsement by SAMHSA or
HHS.
Public Domain Notice
All material appearing in this publication is in the public domain and may be reproduced or
copied without permission from SAMHSA. Citation of the source is appreciated. However,
this publication may not be reproduced or distributed for a fee without the specific, written
authorization of the Office of Communications, SAMHSA, HHS.
Electronic Access
This publication may be downloaded at http://store.samhsa.gov/product/SMA18-4357ENG
Recommended Citation
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. A Guide for Taking Care of Your
Family Member After Treatment in the Emergency Department. HHS Publication No. SMA18-4357ENG.
Rockville, MD: Center for Mental Health Services, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services
Administration, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Revised 2018.
Originating Office
Suicide Prevention Branch, Center for Mental Health Services, Substance Abuse and Mental Health
Services Administration, 5600 Fishers Lane, Rockville, MD 20857, HHS Publication No. SMA18-
4357ENG. First printed 2006. Revised 2018.
Nondiscrimination Notice
SAMHSA complies with applicable Federal civil rights laws and does not discriminate on the
basis of race, color, national origin, age, disability, or sex.
Aviso de No Discriminación
SAMHSA cumple con las leyes federales de derechos civiles aplicables y no discrimina por
motivos de raza, color, nacionalidad, edad, discapacidad o sexo.
1
After an Attempt: A Guide to
Taking Care of Your Family
Member after Treatment in the
Emergency Department
S
uicidal thoughts and actions generate conflicting feelings in family members who love
the person who wishes to take his or her own life. That is why this guide was developed
for you. It will give you some important points on how to take care of yourself and your
family member following a suicide attempt and it will provide resources to help you move
forward.
What Happens in the Emergency Department
Goal
The goal of an emergency department visit is to get the best outcome for the person at a
time of crisis—resolving the crisis, stabilizing the patient medically and emotionally, and
making recommendations and referrals for followup care or treatment. There are several
steps in the process, and they all take time.
When someone is admitted to an emergency department for a suicide attempt, a doctor will
evaluate the person’s physical and mental health. Emergency department staff should look
for underlying physical problems that may have contributed to the suicidal behavior, such as
side effects from medications, untreated medical conditions, or the presence of street drugs
that can cause emotional distress. While emergency department staff prefer to assess people
who are sober, they should not dismiss things people say or do when intoxicated, especially
comments about how they might harm themselves or others.
Assessment
After emergency department staff evaluate your family member’s physical health, a mental
health assessment should be performed, and the physician doing the exam should put your
relative’s suicidal behavior into context. The assessment will generally focus on three areas:
1. What psychiatric or medical conditions are present? Are they being or have they been
treated? Are the suicidal thoughts and behavior a result of a recent change, or are they a
longstanding condition?
2. What did the person do to harm himself or herself? Have there been previous attempts?
Why did the person act, and why now? What current stressors, including financial
or relationship losses, may have contributed to this decision? Does the person regret
surviving the suicide attempt? Is the person angry with someone? Is the person trying to
reunite with someone who has died? What is the person’s perspective on death?
3. What support systems are there? Who is providing treatment? What treatment
programs are a good match for the person? What does the individual and the family feel
comfortable with?
Finally, a doctor may assess in more detail the actual suicide attempt that brought your
relative into the emergency department. Information that the treatment team should look
for includes the presence of a suicide note, the seriousness of the attempt, or a history of
previous suicide attempts.
What the Emergency Department Needs to Know: How You Can Help
Inform the emergency department personnel if your relative has:
• Access to a gun, lethal doses of medications, or other means of suicide.
• Stopped taking prescribed medicines.
• Stopped seeing a mental health provider or physician.
• Written a suicide note or will.
• Given possessions away.
• Been in or is currently in an abusive relationship.
• An upcoming anniversary of a loss.
• Started abusing alcohol or drugs.
• Recovered well from a previous suicidal crisis following a certain type of
intervention.
Confidentiality and Information Sharing
Family members are a source of history and are often key to the discharge plan.
Provide as much information as possible to the emergency department staff. Even if
confidentiality laws prevent the medical staff from giving you information about your
relative, you can always give them information. Find out who is doing the evaluation and
talk with that person. You can offer information that may influence the decisions made for
your relative.
If you ever again have to accompany your relative to the emergency department after an
attempt, remember to bring all medications, suspected causes of overdose, and any names
2
and phone numbers of providers who may have information. Emergency department
personnel should try to contact the medical professionals who know the situation best
before making decisions.
Other important information about your relative’s history to share with the emergency
department staff include:
• A family history of actual suicide—mental health professionals are taught to pay attention to
this because there is an increased risk in families with a history of suicide.
• Details about your relative’s treatment team—a recent change in medication, the
therapist is on vacation, etc. This information is relevant for emergency department staff
because if they do not feel hospitalization is best, they need to discharge your family
member to a professional’s care.
• If the person has an advance directive,
1
review this with the emergency department
treatment team. If you have a guardianship, let them know that as well.
You may want to get permission from the staff and your relative to sit in on your relative’s
evaluation in the emergency department to listen and add information as needed. Your role
is to balance the emergency department staff’s training and the interview of the patient
with your perspective. The best emergency department decisions are made with all the
relevant information.
If your relative has a hearing impairment or does not speak English, he or she may have to
wait for someone who knows American Sign Language or an interpreter. It is generally not a
good idea to use a family member to interpret in a medical situation.
Next Steps After the Emergency Department
After your relative’s physical and mental health are thoroughly examined, the emergency
department personnel will decide if your relative needs to be hospitalized—either voluntarily
or by a commitment. If hospitalization is necessary, you can begin to work with the
receiving hospital to offer information and support and to develop a plan for the next
steps in your relative’s care. If involuntary hospitalization is necessary, the hospital staff
should explain this legal procedure to your relative and you so that you both have a clear
understanding of what will take place over the next 3–10 days, while a court decides on the
next steps for treatment.
3
1
Psychiatric advance directives are legal documents that can be prepared in advance by people who are
concerned that they might be subject to involuntary psychiatric treatment or commitment in the future.
Contact the National Resource Center on Psychiatric Advance Directives for more information.
http://www.nrc-pad.org
If the emergency department’s treatment team, the patient, and you do not feel
hospitalization is necessary, then you should all be a part of developing a followup treatment
plan. In developing a plan, consider the following questions:
4
Questions Family and Friends Should Ask about the
Followup Treatment Plan
Ask your family member:
It is important to be honest and
direct with your questions and
concerns.
Ask the treatment team:
This includes the doctor, therapist,
nurse, social worker, etc.
Do you feel safe to leave
the hospital, and are you
comfortable with the discharge
plan?
Do you believe professionally
that my family member is
ready to leave the hospital?
How is your relationship with
your doctor, and when is your
next appointment?
Why did you make the
decision(s) that you did about
my family member’s care or
treatment?
What has changed since your
suicidal feelings or actions
began?
Is there a followup appointment
scheduled? Can it be moved to
an earlier date?
What else can I/we do to help you
after you leave the emergency
department?
What is my role as a family
member in the safety plan?
Will you agree to talk with
me/us if your suicidal feelings
return? If not, is there someone
else you can talk to?
What should we look for and
when should we seek more
help, such as returning to the
emergency department or
contacting other local resources
and providers?
Remember: It is critical for the patient to schedule a followup
appointment as soon as possible after discharge from the emergency
department.
What You Need To Know
Make safety a priority for your relative recovering from a suicide attempt. Research has
shown that a person who has attempted to end his or her life has a much higher risk of later
dying by suicide. Safety is ultimately an individual’s responsibility, but often a person who
feels suicidal has a difficult time making good choices. As a family member, you can help
your loved one make a better choice while reducing the risk.
Reduce the Risk at Home—To help reduce the risk of self-harm or suicide at home, here are
some things to consider:
• Guns are high risk and the leading means of death for suicidal people—they should be
taken out of the home and secured.
• Overdoses are common and can be lethal—if it is necessary to keep pain relievers such as
aspirin, Advil, and Tylenol in the home, only keep small quantities or consider keeping
medications in a locked container. Remove unused or expired medicine from the home.
• Alcohol use or abuse can decrease inhibitions and cause people to act more freely on their
feelings. As with pain relievers, keep only small quantities of alcohol in the home, or none
at all.
Create a Safety Plan—Following a suicide attempt, a safety plan should be created to help
prevent another attempt. The plan should be a joint effort between your relative and his or
her doctor, therapist, or the emergency department staff, and you. As a family member, you
should know your relative’s safety plan and understand your role in it, including:
• Knowing your family member’s “triggers,” such as an anniversary of a loss, alcohol, or
stress from relationships.
• Building supports for your family member with mental health professionals, family,
friends, and community resources.
• Working with your family member’s strengths to promote his or her safety.
• Promoting communication and honesty in your relationship with your family member.
Remember that safety cannot be guaranteed by anyone—the goal is to reduce the risks and
build supports for everyone in the family. However, it is important for you to believe that the
safety plan can help keep your relative safe. If you do not feel that it can, let the emergency
department staff know before you leave.
Maintain Hope and Self-Care—Families commonly provide a safety net and a vision of hope
for their suicidal relative, and that can be emotionally exhausting. Never try to handle this
situation alone—get support from friends, relatives, and organizations such as the National
Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), and get professional input whenever possible. Use the
resources on the back pages of this brochure, the Internet, family, and friends to help you
create a support network. You do not have to travel this road alone.
5
Moving Forward
Emergency department care is by nature short-term and crisis oriented, but some longer-term
interventions have been shown to help reduce suicidal behavior and thoughts. You and your
relative can talk to the doctor about various treatments for mental illnesses that may help to
reduce the risk of suicide for people diagnosed with illnesses such as schizophrenia, bipolar
disorder, or depression. Often, these illnesses require multiple types of interventions, and your
relative may benefit from a second opinion from a specialist.
If your relative abuses alcohol or other drugs, it is also important to seek help for this problem
along with the suicidal behavior. Seek out a substance abuse specialist. Contact your local
substance abuse treatment provider by calling 1-800-662-4357 or visiting
www.findtreatment.samhsa.gov, or contact groups like Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) or
Narcotics Anonymous (NA) to help your loved one; Al-Anon may be a good resource for
you as a family member.
2
If it is available in your area, an integrated treatment program like
Assertive Community Treatment (ACT) may provide better outcomes than traditional care for
some severely ill individuals.
3
Ultimately, please reach out for help in supporting your family member and yourself through
this crisis. See the list below of hotlines, information, and support organizations to help you
and your family member move forward with your lives.
Remember that the emergency department is open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year to treat
your family member, if the problem continues and if your family member’s medical team is
unavailable to provide the needed care.
6
2
Contact Alcoholics Anonymous at 212-870-3400 or www.aa.org; contact Narcotics Anonymous at 818-773-
9999 or www.na.org; contact Al-Anon (or Alateen for youth) at 757-563-1600 or www.al-anon.alateen.org.
3
To learn more about ACT, contact NAMI at 1-800-950-NAMI (6264) or
https://www.nami.org/Learn-More/Treatment/Psychosocial-Treatments.
7
To learn more about suicide and to get help, consider these resources.
If you’re in crisis or distress anytime, day or night
National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 1-800-273-TALK (8255).
Live chat: www.suicidepreventionlifeline.org
Veterans Crisis Line and Military Crisis Line: 1-800-273-8255 (press 1).
Text to 838255. Live chat: http://www.veteranscrisisline.net
The Trevor Project: 1-866-488-7386. For lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning
(LGBTQ) young people. http://www.thetrevorproject.org
Websites for Suicide Attempt Survivors
National Suicide Prevention Lifeline’s “With Help Comes Hope” website has information
for survivors, friends and families, and clinicians. It has survivor stories, self-care tips, “7 things
attempt survivors wish their friends and families knew,” a therapist and support group finder,
videos, and more.
http://lifelineforattemptsurvivors.org
American Association for Suicidology is a professional organization with an “Attempt
Survivor/Lived Experience” division, where attempt survivors have a collective voice in the field
of suicide prevention.
http://suicidology.org/suicide-survivors/suicide-attempt-survivors
National Action Alliance for Suicide Prevention is a public/private partnership that
advances the National Strategy for Suicide Prevention. Its Suicide Attempt Survivors Task Force
wrote The Way Forward: Pathways to hope, recovery, wellness with insights from lived experience.
http://actionallianceforsuicideprevention.org/task-force/suicide-attempt-survivors/
Free from SAMHSA
Order or download from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s
(SAMHSA) Store (http://store.samhsa.gov/home). Click “Treatment, Prevention & Recovery”
and then “Suicide Prevention.”
A Journey toward Health and Hope: Your Handbook for Recovery after a Suicide Attempt
Guides you through the first steps toward recovery and a hopeful future after a suicide attempt.
Includes personal stories from survivors who share their experiences as well as strategies, such as
re-establishing connections and finding a counselor to work with. (SMA15-4419)
Stories of Hope and Recovery: A Video Guide for Suicide Attempt Survivors. DVD of three
people who tell about their journeys from attempting suicide to lives of hope and recovery.
(SMA12-4711 DVD)
A Guide for Taking Care of Yourself after Your Treatment in the Emergency Department
(Spanish version also available.) (SMA18-4355ENG / SMA18-4365SPAN)
A Guide for taking Care of Your Family Member after Treatment in the Emergency
Department (Spanish version also available.) (SMA18-4357ENG / SMA18-4358SPAN)
A Guide for Medical Providers in the Emergency Department: Taking Care of Suicide
Attempt Survivors (SMA18-4359)
Free Apps
MY3 Safety Planning App. Coping strategies and sources of support.
Virtual Hope Box. Helps with coping, relaxation, distraction, and positive thinking.
Finding a Therapist
SAMHSA’s Behavioral Health Treatment Locator is for people looking for treatment
facilities for substance use and for mental health problems. 1-800-662-HELP (4357) or
https://findtreatment.samhsa.gov
A Journey toward Health and Hope (see “Free from SAMHSA”) SMA15-4419 has an
excellent section on finding a counselor.
Information about Suicide and Suicide Prevention
Suicide Prevention Resource Center. This SAMHSA-funded national resource center has
a wealth of information about suicide and its prevention. www.sprc.org
National Action Alliance for Suicide Prevention. Public-private partnership that
advances the National Strategy for Suicide Prevention.
http://actionallianceforsuicideprevention.org
National Council for Suicide Prevention. National coalition of leading nonprofit
organizations working to end suicide in the United States. http://thencsp.org
8
9
Information about Mental Health and Mental Illness
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). A part
of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), SAMHSA’s mission is to
reduce the burden of substance abuse and mental illness on America’s communities.
www.samhsa.gov
National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH). A part of HHS and the National Institutes
of Health, NIMH’s vision is to transform the understanding and treatment of mental
illnesses. www.nimh.nih.gov
Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance. Provides hope, help, support, and education to
improve the lives of people who have mood disorders. www.DBSalliance.org
Mental Health America. Dedicated to helping all Americans achieve wellness by living
mentally healthier lives. www.mentalhealthamerica.net
National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI). Dedicated to building better lives for the
millions of Americans affected by mental illness. www.nami.org
Psychiatric Advance Directives
Psychiatric Advance Directives are legal documents that can be prepared in advance by
people who are concerned that they might be subject to involuntary psychiatric treatment or
commitment in the future. www.nrc-pad.org
12
Revised 2018 • SMA18-4357ENG
First printed 2006.
