So yesterday somebody I am acquainted with online tried to commit suicide. I didn't know about this until he had already taken 2400 mg of an antipsychotic.

I want to be a therapist, and suicide prevention is a large part of that. I realize that I'm just an undergrad in his second year, but I've had enough training in this area that I should be able to effectively respond to something like this. Instead, I was hyperventilating while desperately looking through my basic QPR pamphlet, then physically shaking while on the phone asking the suicide hotline what I should do.

I won't go into the details of the conversation between me and him, but I feel like I completely failed to respond adequately to his needs. Fortunately, he made himself vomit and drank a ton of water, and he's ok today. None of that was from me, though. I feel like I was too indirect, too afraid of how he might respond. Furthermore the amount of anxiety and uncertainty I felt during this was surprising; it made me think that I may not be cut out for this type of work.

And even now, I'm focusing more on how I'm feeling rather than how he is at the moment. I'm too preoccupied with the unpleasant things I learned about myself to be attentive to his needs, and I am ashamed of that.

Ok sweetie,

You are young, and I don't put that out there as an insult, rather to point out that, when things like that happen to someone for the first time, they often times don't know how to react. Panic is very very normal in times of extreme stress I am looking at your post and I can honestly say from an objective stand point doll you did absolutely nothing wrong. I fail to see what unpleasant thing you learned about yourself, you cared enough to talk to your friend, call the appropriate people, and if the kid swallowed a hand full of anti-psychotics, you just never know how someone will react, to the things you are saying. ( I can attest to this personally as I took 3 shots of halidol in the hospital at a low point in my life and all I kept screaming was NO POLICE! Wasn't a damn cop in sight ok!)

Now do you think those doctors, and nurses that were within arms reach of me and had 25+ years of medical experience didn't treat me like a rabid animal and look at me in horror and panic while I was throwing **** that was within my reach? ABSO****INLOUTELY they did.

I think you are beating yourself up waaaay to ****in hard darling. Now that you have dealt with this situation, if something like this happens to you again in your life time, that panic feeling that you felt will mostly likely be replaced with calm. Humans are resilient brother, and when they are exposed to something once and learn from it, and grow from it the next time this situation or something dire like that happens again, the reaction becomes natural. In all actuality the way I would suggest you look it is for being as young as you are, unseasoned as you are in the mental health field, you got your cherry popped long before you ever go into practice for yourself. I think you passed with flying colors doll. ;)

If you ever need anything you know where my pm is.