What to do in case of an acute crisis?

Where can you turn if you are experiencing an acute crisis, thinking about ending your life, or witnessing someone in danger, or endangering others? These are, of course, very challenging situations for all of us and we are often overwhelmed by feelings of despair, shock, unable to think rationally. It is therefore good to know at least that we do not have to be alone in this situation and to know the places we can turn to or the source where we can find these contacts. A few of them are listed below.

I'm in crisis

There are situations when we feel acutely down, we are unable to function normally, and the situation seems really unbearable. Don't be alone in this and remember that there are contacts you can turn to in such cases:

• Crisis Care Centre's 24-hour telephone service: +420 532 232 078;
• Nonstop CRISIS CENTRE, Psychiatric Clinic of the Faculty of Medicine and Medical Faculty of the Medical University of Brno, Building G, Jihlavská 20, 625 00 Brno;
• Online support in difficult situations is also offered by Blue Line.

If you have suicidal thoughts, you may also find these articles on the web useful:

• Are You Feeling Suicidal? (HelpGuide.org),
• How to Manage Thoughts of Suicide and Get Support (Healthline).

(Keep in mind that these are foreign websites, so the phone numbers listed in the articles may not be available from the Czech Republic.)

I'm witnessing a crisis event

If you witness risky behaviour where someone puts themselves in danger or endangers others, call for help: call the police (158, 112) or an ambulance (155, 112).

These situations can then be divided into two categories. First, in the case of aggression and threats, the person concerned may often be acting under the influence of substances (alcohol, drugs, etc.) or a serious mental illness, in which case there is really nothing else to do but to prevent them from acting as much as possible, taking care not to put yourself in danger. If this is not the case and the person is in a personal crisis not caused by another state of consciousness, the following procedure should be followed: try to establish contact with the person and keep it for as long as possible. For example, try to start a conversation about a topic that interests the person, put yourself in their shoes, try to get them to talk as much as possible, ask open-ended questions that develop the topic (What happened next? How did you feel about it, etc.) and show understanding (No wonder, that would upset me too, etc.). Don't discourage suicide in the first place and don't blame the person (What about your parents/children/partner...?), it usually doesn't lead to anything, the goal is to listen to the person in that situation, talk to them.

In the case of acute danger to oneself, it is possible to hospitalise a person even if they do not agree to it - this is decided in the first round by the doctor of the emergency services, which you can call (contact 155). You can get advice about the whole situation from one of the helplines or crisis centres.

For tips on how to help a loved one who is struggling with suicidal thoughts, see this article on the website Healthline.