Hi,
My best friend was diagnosed with Cancer a few months ago. Today she mentioned for the first time about feeling suicidal and I just don't know how to help her. Giving her the tools to speak to someone professional about how she's feeling may not work, as everything right now feels like a waste of time (in her eyes). Although I haven't had cancer myself, I have dealt with mental health issues mostly all my life and I know that when you feel that low, sometimes you just don't want to help yourself. So I can only imagine how bad it is feeling that low whilst also dealing with Cancer.
I feel stuck in the point of trying not to overload her with my own emotions of why she is amazing and shouldn't feel like she wants to die - but also not wanting to seem like I'm not saying too much in response to her telling me such a deep part of how she's feeling.
I thought I was doing okay with supporting her, but her mentioning feeling suicidal has knocked me completely. I feel it's probably not an uncommon thing for people going through Cancer to feel, but I feel like anything I say won't help.
Not really expecting a reply here (no offense to anyone) but I just checked the Internet for somewhere I could speak about this in the off chance that someone who has felt similar or dealt with a loved one going through similar might have some words of wisdom - or even just understand.
Hope everyone here is doing okay on their own journeys x
Hi NinjaN and a very warm welcome to the online community which I hope you'll find is both an informative and supportive place to be.
It's sounds like a very difficult time for your friend but she's extremely lucky to have someone like you to support her.
The online community is divided into different support forums so I'm going to recommend that you join the family and friends forum as you'll then connect directly with others who are supporting someone with cancer.
To join just click on the link I've created and once you've joined you can start a new post in the same way as you did here and join in with existing conversations by clicking on 'reply'.
Do you think your friend would consider joining the online community? There are forums which cover all types of cancer and she might find it helpful to be able to talk to others who understand what she's going through.
Macmillan have teamed up with Bupa to offer up to 4 free counselling sessions for people who are struggling emotionally because of a cancer diagnosis. You can read more about it by clicking on the link. I am also providing a link to Macmillan's information about feeling suicidal where you'll see information about the Samaritans.
You and your friend can also phone the Macmillan Support Line on 0808 808 0000 to talk things through with one of their advisors/nurses. It's free to call and they're available every day of the week from 8am to 8pm. There's also lots of information that you can access about supporting someone with cancer online.
Sending ((hugs))
"Never regret a day in your life, good days give you happiness, bad days give you experience"
