My best friend, whom I’ve known for 8 years now, tried to commit suicide last week. I heard about it today, when he sent me an email. I had been wondering why I hadn’t heard from him.
I don’t know how to deal with this.
I’m sorry to hear about that 
Although I’m sure you would be helpful, the best thing you could do is point him in the direction of some professional help. Good luck, I hope he realizes he has more to live for then he thinks.
Just be there for him. And I agree with WorldEater, in that if he’s not already receiving professional attention, point him in that direction.
Thirded. It was about as much as I could do when my friend told me she’d been anorexic and near death in the hospital for the past summer.
Be strong and know you’re doing a good thing.
I agree with the professional help. And don’t tell him stuff like “Suicide is a permanent solution to a temporary problem.” I hate that phrase. A suicidal person might think “Hey, it’s a permanent solution to ALL problems, that sounds like a good idea!”
And be prepared if he gets mad at you! My best friend tried the same thing years ago, and when I tried to help her get professional help she yelled at me and told me she didn’t need any such thing. She stormed out of my life for three years, and wouldn’t take my calls…
And yes, read on for the happy ending…
She called me after three years and told me that she had gotten professional help, partly because she knew I loved her enough to tell her to her face that she needed it. She sank lower before she came back up, but she finally did and she told me she was afraid to call me. We both ended up sobbing our hearts out on the phone.
Be his friend. Try to be there for him, but get him help.
That’s actually where he’s been for the past week. He was in the Psych ward at a hospital. He’s on Prozac now. I just don’t know what to say to him, what to do.
I’ve (somewhat) been on his side of the fence(*) so I can tell you this: even if you have one of those buddy-type friendships, now would be a good time to tell him that you care about him. Love him, even. Just let him know that IT MATTERS TO YOU if you lose him. Believe me, it’ll be easier to talk after that.
(*) Long story. Better now.
Call him. Listen if he wants to talk. Invite him to go to a movie or something. Suicide isn’t contagious, and right now he really needs to know people care.
I’m sorry, I know how hard this is. When I was 15, one of my best friends tried to kill herself. As everyone said, try to be there for him. It took a long while for my friend to get the help she needed, I lost touch with her afterward, having nothing to do with her problems and plenty to do with mine, but I’ve recently heard from her and she’s doing fine. I hope for the best for both of you. And make sure that you talk to someone else about how you feel, as it can be very hard to be in your shoes, harder than you may realize.
You’re his best friend? Then just be that. He’ll need his friends now, even if he doesn’t say so.
My friend tried to kill himself way back in the 1980s, and I didn’t hear about it until weeks afterward. At first I was shocked, then profoundly sad, and then I got really pissed off. Why the hell didn’t he call me? That’s what friends are for.
We had a very blunt and detailed conversation about it. If we were going to remain friends, we had to get all that ugly and emotional stuff up front and face it, in order to move forward, and that’s what we did.
We’ve been friends for 23 years now.
a friend of mine tried to kill himself recently as well. When I finally did get to talk to him, I told him that I was very glad that we could have a conversation, that I really cared about him and wanted very much for him to get the help he needed. I told him that I hoped he realized just how many people in his life cared about him, and wanted him around for a long time to come.
Just be there for him/her, and keep being their friend. They need to know you care.