Suicide Resources on Facebook

As I wrote yesterday, many people post suicide threats on Facebook and I have recommendations for how to handle suicide threats on Facebook or other social media. However, there was something I was not aware of – features right in Facebook to report suicidal content. There are actually several features right in Facebook to help with suicide or self-harm posts on Facebook.

Report a Suicide Threat Post to Facebook

The first, and probably the most simple is to report the post. To report a suicide threat or self-harm threat to Facebook (screenshots from Facebook on the right):

1. Click on the down arrow to the right of the post (seen right).

2. Select Report Story or Spam.

3. Select file a report (seen right).

4. Select Violence or Harmful behavior. When you do this, a drop-down list appears (seen right).

5. From the drop-down list select the appropriate choice, such as Suicidal Content.

Now, I haven’t personally tried this so I can’t verify that it works, but apparently when you report suicidal content to Facebook it is quickly assessed and, if verified, an email is sent to the person who posted the suicidal content with a link to chat with a professional.

You can also report suicidal content by typing Suicide into the Facebook Help box and then selecting Report Suicidal Content to Facebook, but this method requires more information from you as it’s not linked directly to a post.

Other Suicide Resources on Facebook

You can find other suicide resources on Facebook by typing Suicide into their Help system (seen right). There are some useful links there to suicide hotlines for various countries

A Note on Suicide Resources on Facebook

I applaud Facebook for taking steps to help people who are in distress. They should have taken these steps due to the prevalence of the situation – and they did. Unfortunately, I don’t really trust Facebook to come through on these things (sorry, I’m just sceptical like that) and I would consider this supplemental to contacting the authorities proper. (Facebook, by the way, also says you should call the police or a suicide hotline if you see credible suicide threats.)

But the really good thing about this is that if you see a situation happening in another country where you can’t contact their hotline or police, or for some reason-or-other those people can’t help, this is a way of at least trying to connect the person in distress with a professional, and that could make all the difference to someone contemplating suicide.

More information on suicide here.

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6 Comments

pixie on August 15, 2012 at 3:47 am

Thanks for the article Natasha it’s really helpfull. Unfortunately it is too late for me. My friend succesfully comitted suicide hours after posting a suicidal status update on facebook.
I’ve read your articles on what to do if someone attempted suicide. But how do you cope if you lost a friend to suicide?

Natasha Tracy on August 15, 2012 at 10:16 am

Hi Pixie,

I’m sorry to hear that. I understand how devastating it is when someone you care about completes suicide.

I’m not aware of the resources on this issue except for one book I’ve come across:

Fine, C., (1997) No Time to Say Goodbye: Surviving the Suicide of a Loved One, Doubleday

I’m sure there are others as well, but I hope that helps.

– Natasha Tracy

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jane on August 2, 2012 at 4:10 pm

just a warning, you can end up with the police in your driveway pretty quickly if you start talking about this stuff. Even asking for help can have this effect. just sayin

Barb Hildebrand on August 2, 2012 at 12:03 pm

Hi Natasha,

Great explanation and I’ve shared it on my page as well. I have used both reporting methods on FB, but actually prefer the old way as it allows more detail to be entered. The new way allows a reporting directly from the suicidal post, but it’s so many steps that many get confused and just stop not knowing which step they should use. FB should make it simple and have one direct link saying “report suicidal content”.

I have little faith in FB’s ability and have tried on several occasions to get answers from them, but they refuse to divulge what happens once a person is reported. I still make the effort every time, but have had such poor communication from them, that I’ve given up trying to get answers.

I have also called Lifeline to ask how it all works, they don’t really have good answers either. It seems pretty useless to me that a suicidal person gets an email telling them to call a hotline and a link to a chat I believe. Many I’ve spoken to say it is alarming getting an email out of the blue from FB and that they already know the hotline #’s to call. Don’t know what the answer is, but do know there are huge time delays once a person is reported and unfortunately for far too many, time is not on their side.

With my fanpage, I am not FB friends with those I encounter, or even on other FB pages. The automated email that comes to me from FB tells me to contact local police, but in many cases I can’t even see where the person lives because of their page settings for security.

It’s better than nothing I guess, but definitely not enough. I had one instance where I saw a suicidal post on a major hotline page many hours after the young woman had posted. No one had responded to her so I did and I also reported her to FB. It was several hours after reporting that I got an email from FB acknowledging the reported person. A friend of hers found me via my comment to her, told me sadly she had died. I followed it up with FB and Lifeline, pretty much no resolution. Very frustrating and sad. More clarity is needed and transparency as well.