Befrienders International (also known as the Samaritans) offer 24-hour telephone counselling services. This service is non-political, non-religious, and non-judgemental. Find contact numbers for your country at Befrienders International. They offer 24-hour suicide prevention counselling in English at jo@samaritans.org. Note that this e-mail service is confidential, and endeavours to reply within 24 hours. For e-mail support in a language other than English, check their Email befriending. They also have useful links to helpline networks around the world.

Lifeline International also offers 24-hour telephone counselling. Find contact numbers for your country at Lifeline International. Lifeline in Australia can be reached at 13 1114.

With an Australian focus, but helpful for young people in general is Reach Out who offer good advice on what to do if your friend threatens to take their own life. Another important emergency service for young people and children in Australia is the Kids Help Line, which can be reached at 1800 55 1800.

Please believe that your crisis WILL pass and that the conditions (including depression) that precipitate suicidal impulses can be treated and eased.

For further encouragement on why it's better to live, please visit if you are thinking about suicide - read this first. It provides further guidance to on-line discussion and support groups and mailing lists, and some excellent essays for sufferers and people who love and support them. Another excellent site with similar resources may be found at Mental Help Net

This music video by Good Charlotte, while difficult to watch in parts, may help you to understand that you're not alone in going through these painful feelings, and that your going would cast so many others into darkness. You are loved more than you know, and as this video shows, you leave behind a trail of devastation. Hold on, and get help and talk about it to people who care about and love you. There are so many people out there who love you, so just hold on...

It's important that these links and phone numbers are kept up to date, which can prove difficult on the ever changing World Wide Web. If you find a link which has changed, please contact me promptly, so I may fix the link or find another service if possible.