Suicide, Self-Harm & Threatening Behaviour
At BenzoBuddies we deeply empathize with those feeling ideation towards suicide & self-harm, or feelings of wanting to harm others. We do appreciate this can be a common side-effect of Benzodiazepene use/withdrawal and while we understand that you may be prone to these feelings & thoughts, the staff & members are not qualified health professionals and are ill-equipped to offer you direct support through the Forum.
If you are experiencing such feelings or thoughts we can only, in good conscience, forward you to specialist helplines / online resources and we strongly recommend that you contact one of those or your local Emergency Services and/or see a medical professional as soon as possible for the proper care and support that you will need.
Our primary focus is to help those who wish to cease using benzodiazepenes; our responsibility is to the majority of the members, some of whom are highly sensitive to reading such commentary from others. As such, we cannot allow the discussion of suicidal ideation, self-harm, threats of such action or threats of harming others at the BenzoBuddies forum or over the Personal Messaging (PM) system with other members.
Members who happen upon such posts must report these incidences immediately using the 'Report this Post' function (located at the bottom-right corner of each post) or for PM's using the 'Report this PM' function (located at the bottom-right corner of each PM). You must not engage yourself directly into counseling other members in such circumstances. This is for the safety & wellbeing of all concerned. Lending a sympathetic ear, suggesting the member contact a medical professional and/or linking them to the off-forum Resources page is allowed.
Emergency Services Telephone Numbers:
If you reside in the USA or Canada — Dial: 911
If you reside in the UK — Dial: 999 / 111
If you reside in AUS — Dial: 000
24hr Suicide Counselling Phone Lines:
USA and Canada: National Suicide Prevention Lifeline — Dial: 1-800-273-8255
UK: The Samaritans — Dial: 08457 909090
AUS: Lifeline Services — Dial: 13 11 14
International Helplines:
Link: Befrienders Worldwide (International support lines in 39 countries) — Search for phone number by country
Link: International Association for Suicide Prevention (IASP) — Search for phone number by country using their map
Useful Online Support Links:
How to cope with suicidal feelings
How to help someone who is suicidal