There may be times when members of the memorial page indicate that they are struggling or are feeling distressed.

People who have experienced the suicide of a close friend or loved one may experience different stages of grief at different periods of time and reach out to others on the memorial page for support themselves.

In addition to the guidelines on responding to someone who may be at risk of suicide, administrators could consider developing a standard template for responding to members in distress. These tips will help you create a template:

• Personalise the message by using the person's name.
• Express concern for the person (e.g. “I am worried about you, because of [this]).
• Adapt your message to the person's situation, and reflect the language they have used to describe their feelings.
• Encourage the person to seek help, but do not recommend a service if the person has indicated they did not find it helpful (e.g. they have had a bad experience with a particular helpline or professional). Encourage them to keep an open mind about what might help in the future.
• Adapt your message to accommodate any barriers they feel are stopping them seeking help (e.g. if they don’t have mobile phone credit, recommend an accessible service that has a call back feature or online chat).
• Administrators should be mindful to minimise repeated use of templates if the person has reached out for support before.

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