Stay Alive – A suicide prevention pocket resource for the UK that offers help and support both to people with thoughts of suicide and to people concerned about someone else. The app can be personalised to tailor it to the user.

This app has been developed by Grassroots, supporting communities to prevent suicide, one life at a time. They teach suicide alertness and intervention skills to community members and professionals. Based in the South East of England, since 2006 they have trained over 5,000 people in suicide prevention and mental health both locally and nationally. They have seats on several advisory committees in Brighton & Hove and have contributed to both local and national suicide prevention and self-harm strategies.

Key features of the app include:

• Quick access to national crisis support helplines
• A mini-safety plan that can be filled out by a person considering suicide
• A LifeBox to which the user can upload photos from their phone reminding them of their reasons to stay alive
• Strategies for staying safe from suicide
• How to help a person thinking about suicide
• Suicide myth-busting
• Research-based reasons for living
• Online support services and other helpful apps
• Suicide bereavement resources

Aside from Breathing exercises, grounding techniques and lots of useful tips and contacts, it has a section called ‘My Life-box’.  Here I can add pictures that remind me of my reasons to stay alive. I uploaded a funny photo of Si, one of my Mum and Dad celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary and one of Saagar and I, happy together. This is the next best thing to a friend sitting with me, holding my hand when I am down and out.