Hi Linda,
My dad went through a stage of saying he was going to get a gun and kill himself. When we pointed out that he wouldn't be able to get a gun he said in that case he would walk out into the traffic. He could easily have done that, and we couldn't take the risk of leaving him alone. It wasn't long after this that he ended up in the assessment unit and then in full time care. The threat of suicide wasn't the definitive behaviour that led to that, but was part of the reasons.
Your mum may be making empty threats (and I think the CPN is right to say that there is no hard and fast rule that someone who talks about it is not going to do it) but in my experience asking my dad to consider how other people would feel if he did it had no effect whatsoever. Would taking her threats seriously and saying that if she is having suicidal thoughts then the authorities (not you) might take steps that would impact on her independence strike a chord with her?
I think Helen's (and others') idea of contacting the Samaritans for advice is a good one. The contact details are
Telephone: 08457 90 90 90 (24 hours, seven days a week)
Email: jo@samaritans.org
Website: www.samaritans.org
My dad went through a stage of saying he was going to get a gun and kill himself. When we pointed out that he wouldn't be able to get a gun he said in that case he would walk out into the traffic. He could easily have done that, and we couldn't take the risk of leaving him alone. It wasn't long after this that he ended up in the assessment unit and then in full time care. The threat of suicide wasn't the definitive behaviour that led to that, but was part of the reasons.
Your mum may be making empty threats (and I think the CPN is right to say that there is no hard and fast rule that someone who talks about it is not going to do it) but in my experience asking my dad to consider how other people would feel if he did it had no effect whatsoever. Would taking her threats seriously and saying that if she is having suicidal thoughts then the authorities (not you) might take steps that would impact on her independence strike a chord with her?
I think Helen's (and others') idea of contacting the Samaritans for advice is a good one. The contact details are
Telephone: 08457 90 90 90 (24 hours, seven days a week)
Email: jo@samaritans.org
Website: www.samaritans.org