MenuSearchSuicide prevention – Bath Spa University
Suicide awareness and prevention
Content warning: This page contains explicit reference to suicide. It does include advice and how to access help.
This page outlines the support available for students and staff, explores the impact suicide can have on us, and lists resources and guidance that can help us all to prevent suicide.
If you or someone you know are experiencing thoughts about ending your life, help and support is available.
One in five people will experience suicidal thoughts at some point in their lifetime. This ranges from wishing you weren’t here anymore or thinking others would be better off without you to making plans to end your life.
These thoughts can feel frightening, overwhelming, and difficult to talk about – but whatever you’re going through, you're not alone. On this page you can find support, advice and resources to help us all cope, respond and start to have honest and open conversations.
Urgent wellbeing support
Please don’t keep suicidal feelings to yourself. Tell someone you trust.
On campus: If you (or someone you know) are on campus and don't feel able to keep yourself safe, call Security on +44 (0)1225 875555 and they'll put you in touch with staff in Student Wellbeing Services.
Not on campus: If you're not on campus, call 111 or go to your nearest A&E (Accident and Emergency) department.
Are you in serious danger of harm? Call 999
If you've seriously harmed yourself – for example, by taking a drug overdose – or you feel that you may be about to harm yourself, call 999 for an ambulance or go straight to A&E. You can also ask someone else to call 999 or take you to A&E.
Other sources of support
External sources of support are also available 24/7, including the Samaritans, who can be contacted for free from mobiles and landlines on 116 123.
HOPELINEUK is also available for confidential support and practical advice for young people contemplating suicide. This line is run by the suicide prevention charity Papyrus.
If you're thinking of taking your own life and not sure you can keep yourself safe, or are with a friend or colleague who is feeling this way, Staying Safe offers straightforward and practical advice, including how to make a safety plan for right now until you can get some support.
Cruse promotes the wellbeing of bereaved people and helps to enable anyone bereaved by death to understand their grief and cope with their loss. They also provide support, information, advice, education and training services.
It takes 20 minutes and will help you have a better understanding of suicide, why it happens and ways you help to prevent it.
It also breaks down the stigma surrounding suicide including the discomfort many of us feel about having direct conversations about suicide, encouraging and giving permission for open communication about it.
It’s important to be able to speak openly with other students and staff about suicide, particularly when someone you know has attempted or completed suicide. This can help everyone to grieve and process the trauma. Talking to others and listening to their concerns can also help to highlight when someone is having difficulty coping or needs extra support.
Most people don’t know exactly what to say or do. Being there for each other and listening is much more important than feeling you have to have the right words or answer. If you're struggling, please reach out to others, whether that's Student Wellbeing Services, friends, colleagues, family or external support organisations (some are listed above).
The impact of suicide on our community at Bath Spa
Whether or not you know the person, an attempted, suspected or completed suicide can be traumatic and distressing. How you respond can be unpredictable – often people respond or react in different ways and it’s important to be aware that there is no right or wrong way to feel. All our feelings are valid regardless of your connection to the person.
If you need support after losing someone to suicide or have been affected by someone’s attempted suicide, please contact Student Wellbeing Services so that we can support you both practically and emotionally in ways that are right for you.
Resources
The Samaritan’s Step by Step programme provides practical support and guidance to help university communities prepare for and recover from a suspected or attempted suicide.
The Office for Students has also provided advice, guidance and resources for Universities.
Help is at Hand is a resource for people bereaved through suicide or other unexplained death, and for those helping them.
Mental Health Support
If you (or someone you know) is struggling with your mental health there is help available. Please don’t try and cope alone. Here are some options: