Get help now
If he is in immediate danger, call your local emergency number or go to the nearest emergency department. The lines below are free, open 24 hours, and for you as well as for him. Numbers checked against each organisation's own website on 9 November 2026.
Crisis lines
| Country | Service | How to reach it |
|---|---|---|
| United States | 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline | Call or text 988. 988lifeline.org |
| United Kingdom and Ireland | Samaritans | Call 116 123, free from landlines and mobiles. samaritans.org |
| Canada | 9-8-8 Suicide Crisis Helpline | Call or text 9-8-8. 988.ca |
| Australia | Lifeline | Call 13 11 14. Text 0477 13 11 14. lifeline.org.au |
| New Zealand | 1737 | Call or text 1737. 1737.org.nz |
What to say to him
Ask directly and calmly: "Are you thinking about hurting yourself?" You will not put the idea in his head. The Child Mind Institute is clear that thoughts of suicide mean he needs to be evaluated by a mental health professional immediately, and that an imminent threat means an emergency room. Stay with him. Remove anything he could use to hurt himself. Call a line above with him, or for yourself, if you do not know what to do next.
Not an emergency, but you are worried
- His doctor. The first call for sadness or irritability most days for two weeks or more, withdrawal from friends and interests, or changes in sleep and eating. They can see him alone and refer onward.
- The school counsellor. They see him five days a week. Ask what they are seeing and what the school can offer.
- A family therapist who works with adolescents and separated families, when every contact turns into a fight or when he will talk to a neutral adult but not to either parent.
- Family mediation, when the problem is the schedule rather than the relationship.
For you
Divorce is one of the most stressful things an adult goes through, and you are doing it while trying to be steady for him. If you are not sleeping or eating, or drinking more than you were, talk to your own doctor. The lines above take calls from parents too.