Have you felt like this before?

Suicide is complex and there is no single explanation of why people die by suicide.

Research does however tell us that people who previously have attempted to die by suicide are at higher risk.

So it is important to ask 'Have you felt like this before?'

Now I'll let you in on the next question - if the answer is YES then ask 'What helped last time?'

If we can work with our caller to identify what has helped before then the conversation can continue with working out if what helped before could help now. 

This is just one of the many different ways to build trust, rapport to enable a caller to share their difficulties and for the helpline worker to provide support or action.