Suicide Awareness and Support Lines

In the past week we have seen two celebrities, Anthony Bourdain and Kate Spade, commit suicide. This brought up feelings for me as a few weeks ago a family friend who I had known for many years also took his own life. It was something completely out of the blue and hisfriends and family couldn't believe that it had happened. Life can be tough and we never really know what can be happening in someone's head. In this post I wanted to share/remind people of some of the support structures that are out there.

In Australia
In Australia we have Lifeline Australia (13 11 14 and https://www.lifeline.org.au/) who provide crisis support. Most health districts also have a Crisis Assessment and Treatment Team (CATT) or something similarly named. They provide emergency mental health support (although if someone has tried to harm themselves or someone else, or you think they are about to, call triple zero (000) immediately).

Australia also provides Medicare supported sessions with a psychologist. With a GP referral you can get 10 sessions per year with a psychologist subsidised by Medicare. This does not always make it free but there are a few clinics around that offer bulk billed sessions. Others will still charge the difference between the Medicare support and their normal rates.

Internationally
I found several sites with lists of international helplines and other resources. Interestingly, Wikipedia's list of international crisis lines looked like the most comprehensive.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_suicide_crisis_lines

I hope these resources can lead people to help.