It’s not uncommon for someone who is depressed or feeling suicidal to use sites like Facebook, Twitter or MySpace to express their emotions. This week, in an effort to help those sharing such thoughts on Facebook, the social networking giant has announced a partnership with the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline. The company yesterday revealed the partnership, which aims to provide suicidal people with an opportunity to have a private chat with a trained crisis representative from the Suicide Prevention Lifeline.

Available to Facebook users in the United States and Canada, the service Facebook users to report any suicidal comments they see posted by a friend to Facebook using either the Report Suicidal Content link or the other report links found throughout the site. The author of the comment in question will then receive an email from Facebook providing them with a link to begin a confidential chat session with a crisis worker and encouraging them to call the NSPL.

Speaking to CNet in an interview, Lidia Bernik, associate project director of the Lifeline, said that the The Lifeline has been working with Facebook since 2006 “to basically reach out to individuals who are flagged or reported for suicidal content.” Bernik said that a lot of users have said that they feel more comfortable talking over text or chat as opposed to on the phone and said the partnership with Facebook is “an attempt to reach people in a medium where they are most comfortable.”

Dr. Regina Benjamin wrote in a guest post on Facebook that more than 100 Americans commit suicide every day and in the past year, more than eight million Americans 18 or older had thought seriously about suicide. She encouraged people to learn the symptoms of mental illnesses so they can do their part to help.

“I ask everyone to help by learning about the symptoms of mental illnesses and substance abuse, the warning signs of suicide, how to stand with and support someone who is in crisis, and how to get someone you care about the help they need,” she said.

SOURCE via Facebook