Erin Faith Page
11/09/14
Role Responses
As Mariah's peer I would make sure to create an open and judgment free environment where she could feel comfortable talking to me. I value honesty and therefor I would make sure that she knew I cared for her and, if at any point I felt that the situation was an emergency, I would inform her of my decision to find help through a professional. It would be important for me to gather as much information as possible prior to getting outside forces involved by asking questions about how she was feeling, if she thought she was going to hurt herself, what her plan was, and where she was. I have also been trained to discuss future plans with people in these situations asking about a birthday, holidays, college, family, etc. Once I had thoroughly evaluated the conversation with Mariah and if I thought this was an emergency, I would then create a verbal or written contract of my support to her under the agreement that she would not harm herself or others until we were able to discuss everything further.
Research into suicide shows that, for the majority of people, giving yourself 24 hours to contemplate the decision cuts your likely hood of suicide drastically, so I would also in general encourage her to think about it. I would then call in the professionals to make sure that she received the help she needed.
After and during Mariah's recovery I would make sure to be available for conversations or just to listen to her if she needed someone to talk to. I would tell her how much I care about her and that myself, her friends, and her family would have been so lonely without her. I would offer...