Suicide Risk Factors and Signs

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Use mental health professionals to explain the data and increase public understanding of suicide.

Reach out to people whose loved ones jumped; their voices tend to be the most powerful and convincing.

Be prepared to refute the three main arguments against a suicide barrier—cost, aesthetics, and effectiveness.

For years, I have been on the board of Bridge Rail Foundation, an all-volunteer, nonprofit organization in the San Francisco Bay Area that has been the primary advocate for a suicide barrier on the Golden Gate Bridge. Now that a barrier is in place—a rigid, stainless-steel net—and proving its effectiveness, other communities with popular jump sites are seeking advice and support to make their local bridge, tall building, overpass, cliff, train crossing, or other site safe from suicide. What follows are 10 elements in a successful strategy.

Have concrete data. Until you know the extent of the problem, it’s hard to rally people to do something about it.

Use mental health professionals to explain the data, educate the media, and increase the public’s understanding of suicide. Their professional standing adds credence to the impassioned arguments of community members.

Reach out to families and friends whose loved one jumped from the site in question, and seek their involvement. People grieve privately, but some are willing to speak publicly about their pain if it helps prevent future tragedies and suffering by others. Their voices tend to be the most powerful and convincing of all.

Get the medical examiner or coroner on your side. They investigate all suicides and record all deaths, which makes them the best source of data, as well as respected civil servants whom other people listen to.

Seek support from first responders (cops, firefighters, paramedics, and Coast Guard crew members), anyone who has survived a jump and feels fortunate to be alive, and witnesses to a jump. All provide a unique and compelling perspective.

Be prepared to refute the three main arguments against a suicide barrier—cost, aesthetics, and effectiveness. Of these, the last carries the most weight. Many people mistakenly believe that someone who is prevented from jumping will kill themselves another way, so a barrier isn’t important, even though research shows that barriers save lives.

Determine whether any public officials and political leaders have been personally affected by suicide, and reach out to them. If none have, or you don’t know, work with elected representatives and/or their staffs to gain their support.

Cultivate relationships with reporters and news outlets to get the story of local suicides widely disseminated. Equally important, use social media to develop broad-based community support, dispel myths, and be thought of as a trusted source of information.

Keep the pressure on and don’t give up. People have lots on their minds, and it’s easy for them to ignore or forget your cause, which is why you continually need to remind them. Also, it can be frustrating to engage in what seems like a losing battle, but persistence is essential; one day the tide will change.

Celebrate each achievement along the way. Every news story that increases public awareness, every new, important voice of support, and every recommendation, bill, or funding measure that gets you closer to the goal is worth honoring and promoting.

It took more than 85 years for the Golden Gate Bridge to have a suicide barrier, and nearly 20 years after a barrier was approved for funding to be secured and the barrier to be erected. Hopefully, it won’t take as long to make other jump sites safe.

If you or someone you love is contemplating suicide, seek help immediately. For help 24/7, dial 988 for the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline, or reach out to the Crisis Text Line by texting TALK to 741741. To find a therapist near you, visit the Psychology Today Therapy Directory.

Suicide Risk Factors and Signs

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