History Main / SuicideWatch

In some jurisdictions, suicidal people can be detained in mental hospitals until their urges are either finished, or the patient is undergoing treatment. They might be subjected to an involuntary psychiatric hold, where it's the authorities who are doing the guarding.

'''If you or someone you know feels suicidal, [[UsefulNotes/SuicidePrevention there are numbers you can call]]'''.

* ''Literature/AroundTheWorldInEightyDays'': Aouda and Passpartout are both worried that Mr. Fogg might end it all after he loses the bet and is financially ruined. Passepartout keeps watching him.
-->''"From the words which Mr. Fogg dropped, she saw that he was meditating some serious project. Knowing that Englishmen governed by a fixed idea sometimes resort to the desperate expedient of suicide, Passepartout kept a narrow watch upon his master, though he carefully concealed the appearance of so doing."''

* ''Fanfic/XCOMRWBYWithin'': [[spoiler:Coco is on suicide watch by her therapist after a joking quip reveals an extremely deep-seated guilt for her inadvertent role in the downfall of Beacon and the deaths of many stadium-goers.]]

* ''Literature/AroundTheWorldInEightyDays'': Aouda and Passpartout are both worried that Mr Fogg might end it all after he loses the bet and is financially ruined. Passepartout keeps watching him.

* ''WesternAnimation/KingOfTheHill'': In the episode "Pretty, Pretty Dresses", Bill becomes suicidal as the approaching Christmas season reminds him of his ex-wife Lenore. This prompts Hank and his other friends to take turns watching over him to make sure he doesn't kill himself, including one memorable scene of Dale threatening him at gun point.

%%* Medical professionals will put a patient on one-to-one 24-hour supervision if it's believe there's a real risk said patient could do harm to themselves if left on their own; if friends are family members are concerned, they'll request it.

%%Tropes dealing with suicide are NRLEP (no real life examples, please). This particular trope is discussed in Real Life section maintenance thread. Don't add any examples before it's resolved.

Compare TalkingDownTheSuicidal. May lead to InterruptedSuicide, BungledSuicide, or HappilyFailedSuicide. If the person under watch wasn't suicidal after all, see MistakenForSuicidal.

* ''Literature/JohnDiesAtTheEnd'': During the epilogue, John instructs Amy to spend the night at Dave's house, ostensibly because they've all just learned that [[spoiler: Dave is a clone from Korrok's world and they need to be sure that he won't become a monster.]] Later that night, Dave finds that his medicine cabinet has been emptied and a pair of scissors is missing from his bathroom. He remembers that Amy was in there before him, and realises she's actually there to make sure he doesn't kill himself over the afore-mention revelation.

%% The list is alphabetised. Please add new examples accordingly.

* ''Literature/JohnDiesAtTheEnd'': During the epilogue, John instructs Amy to spend the night at Dave's house, ostensibly because they've all just learned that [[spoiler: Dave is a clone from Korrok's world and they need to be sure that he won't become a monster.]] Later that night, Dave finds that his medicine cabinet has been emptied and a pair of scissors is missing from his bathroom. He remembers that Amy was in there before him, and realises she's actually there to make sure he doesn't kill himself over the afore-mention revelation.
* ''Literature/TheBelgariad'': in the prequels, Belgarath writes that after learning of Poledra's death, he had to be chained to a bed, with his fellow sorcerers taking turns jamming his magic, so he wouldn't commit suicide.

* ''FanFic/ToHellAndBackArrowverse'': After Barry went missing at fourteen during his botched trip to China and was presumed dead, his father Henry (framed for his wife's death and incarcerated in Iron Heights) tried to commit suicide in grief. He was stopped, and the prison put him on suicide watch. Barry's best friend, Iris, went even further and made the effort to visit Henry on a frequent basis to give him a reason to keep living, knowing that Barry wouldn't have wanted his father to die before getting out.
* ''FanFic/AHollowInEquestria'': Rainbow Dash is put on suicide watch due to the repeated mental trauma she'd been subjected to by [[spoiler: Nightmare Moon]] has left her unable to know what's real anymore.
* ''FanFic/OurEternityTogether'': Mystic is subjected to this after attempting to take her own life. Her logic? She believes that [[spoiler: if she's dead, the Cursed God will have no reason to go after her friends]]. It gets to a point where she's itching to escape the sanctuary.

* ''Series/TheWire'': After Officer Prezbylewski accidentally shoots another police officer while chasing a suspect in the projects, his superior Lt. Daniels comes to visit a despondent Prez as the rest of the department heads are discussing what to do next. After Daniels leaves the room, he tells Deputy Rawls to send somebody home with Prez to make sure he doesn't kill himself out of guilt.

* ''Series/TheWire'': After Officer Prezbylewski accidentally shoots another police officer while chasing a suspect in the projects, his superior Lt. Daniels comes to visit a despondent Prez as the rest of the department heads are discussing what to do next. After Daniels leaves the room, he tells Deputy Rawls to send somebody home him with Prez to make sure he doesn't kill himself out of guilt.

->Knowing that Englishmen governed by a fixed idea sometimes resort to the desperate expedient of suicide, Passepartout kept a narrow watch upon his master, though he carefully concealed the appearance of so doing.

!!Examples:
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[[AC: FanWorks]]

[[AC:LiveActionTV]]

-->'''Briscoe:''' I specifically asked for him to be put on suicide watch. Apparently, here at Rikers, they watch you commit suicide.

* In one episode of ''Series/{{Reno 911}}'', Trudy Wiegel gets put on suicide watch after accidentally asphyxiating herself in her car. With everyone else forced to be nice to her for a change, she milks the situation for everything it's worth.

[[AC:{{Literature}}]]

-->From the words which Mr. Fogg dropped, she saw that he was meditating some serious project. Knowing that Englishmen governed by a fixed idea sometimes resort to the desperate expedient of suicide, Passepartout kept a narrow watch upon his master, though he carefully concealed the appearance of so doing.

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[[AC:WesternAnimation]]

%% [[AC:Real Life]]
%% * Medical professionals will put a patient on one-to-one 24-hour supervision if it's believe there's a real risk said patient could do harm to themselves if left on their own; if friends are family members are concerned, they'll request it.

%% Tropes dealing with suicide are NRLEP (no real life examples, please). This particular trope is discussed in Real Life section maintenance thread. Don't add any examples before it's resolved.

* ''Literature/TheBelgariad'', in the prequels, Belgarath writes that after learning of Poledra's death, he had to be chained to a bed, with his fellow sorcerers taking turns jamming his magic, so he wouldn't commit suicide.

* ''FanFic/OurEternityTogether'': ETNMystic is subjected to this after attempting to take her own life. Her logic? She believes that [[spoiler: If she's dead, the Cursed God will have no reason to go after her friends]] It gets to a point where she's itching to escape the sanctuary.

* ''FanFic/AHollowInEquestria'': Rainbow Dash is put on suicide watch due to the repeated mental trauma she'd been subjected to by [[Spoiler: Nightmare Moon]] has left her unable to know what's real anymore.
* ''FanFic/OurEternityTogether'': ETNMystic is subjected to this after attempting to take her own life. Her logic? She believes that [[Spoiler: If she's dead, the Cursed God will have no reason to go after her friends]] It gets to a point where she's itching to escape the sanctuary.

* ''Literature/JohnDiesAtTheEnd'': During the climax, John instructs Amy to spend the night at Dave's house, ostensibly because they've all just learned that [[spoiler: Dave is a clone from Korrok's world and they need to be sure that he won't become a monster.]] Later that night, Dave finds that his medicine cabinet has been emptied and a pair of scissors is missing from his bathroom. He remembers that Amy was in there before him, and realises she's actually there to make sure he doesn't kill himself over the afore-mention revelation.

[[AC:Real Life]]
* Medical professionals will put a patient on one-to-one 24-hour supervision if it's believe there's a real risk said patient could do harm to themselves if left on their own; if friends are family members are concerned, they'll request it.

There might be several reasons why someone might decide to take this approach instead of immediately calling for emergency help or talking about the issue directly. Maybe they want to spare the suicidal the embarrassment. They might be afraid of their reaction if they talk about the suicide bluntly and straightforwardly, especially if trying to talk directly might inadvertently ''give them'' the idea of committing suicide [[NiceJobBreakingItHero if they hadn't been thinking of it before]]. They might want to minimize the chances of having them being taken off to a mental hospital (especially if they fear that calling in medical help or the police might be the last straw that pushes the Suicidal into going through with it).

There might be several reasons why someone might decide to take this approach instead of immediately calling for emergency help or talking about the issue directly. Maybe they want to spare the suicidal the embarrassment. They might be afraid of their reaction if they talk about the suicide bluntly and straightforwardly. They might want to minimize the chances of having them being taken off to a mental hospital (especially if they fear that calling in medical help or the police might be the last straw that pushes the Suicidal into going through with it).

* In the ''WesternAnimation/{{Jem}}'' episode "A Change of Heart", Minx decides to become nicer after Rio saves her from drowning. Her bandmates Rapture and Riot don't like this sudden change in personality and kick her out. With nowhere to turn to, Minx flees to Rio and when he rejects her she [[InterruptedSuicide tries to jump off a building]]. The rest of the episode revolves around Riot and the Holograms walking on eggshells around Minx as she tries to [[IOweYouMyLife pay back her imagined debt to Rio]].