Self-harm and suicide

You belong to the Stack Overflow Community, help is available, and we don’t want you to feel like you’re alone.

If you or someone you know is struggling with thoughts of self-harm or suicide, please call or text the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline. You can find other local options at Suicide.org. These services are typically free and operate 24/7 to offer support, information, and local resources.

If you happen to come across a post mentioning suicidal thoughts or a user who is in crisis, we ask for your cooperation in flagging these posts. Moderators will then escalate it to staff. All reports are manually reviewed by paid Community Managers carefully; we never use machine learning software or automated solutions for this critical task.

We understand these types of circumstances can be difficult to manage and carry a lot of responsibility, and we do not expect anyone to feel obligated to engage. If you would like to engage with a user in crisis, you may want to read this answer for some helpful tips.

We acknowledge that engaging with users who are in crisis comes with its own risks and challenges. If this type of interaction endangers your own mental health, it is OK not to personally engage. Simply flag the post for moderator attention and allow other members of the community or Community Managers to handle the situation.

Lastly, we thank all users for their continued compassion and for looking out for one another.