Never cracked a joke about it when my idiations were serious. Actually talking about it in any form is a coping mechanism for me. So no jokes are usually not a red flag in my book.

If it is, then the entire black/dark comedy genre is full of troubled people.

It depends. Joking is a coping strategy and she's probably aware of her own inner state. You could privately ask her if everything is ok, and also tell her people are noticing the jokes and worrying about her. I wouldn't get anyone else involved unless I thought the person was in immediate danger, or dangerous to other people.

Check out passive vs active suicidal ideation. The frequency of jokes sounds alarming, although I’m not sure if the intent is there.

Depends if it's actually a funny joke.

A fixated mind might take an opportunity to blurt something out in a conversation.. It would be awkward, not really fit in with what's happening, and then the hiding reflex takes over. It gets played off as a joke to cover up what happened.

A active mind will dance and play with all kinds of ideas and sometimes will play with the concept of death, what it means and how bizarre the concept is on a lot of levels. Jokes will be throwaway comments that are at least mildly witty.

Not necessarily. Some people are just into shock humour.

I find it helpful to think of it like emotional asthma. She's a little wheezy right now. She should probably take things a little easier. She might need a puff of her "inhaler" (although if she does have rescue meds for mental health it's probably a pill) but ultimately that's her private business. She's not doing her best but that also doesn't necessarily mean she needs to be committed or even necessarily inpatient. Suicidal ideation can absolutely be managed outpatient in a lot of cases as long as there's no active plan / intent and there's a solid safety plan in place.

In fact if you're interested in learning more about safety planning and other things you can personally do to manage your own mental health you should come join us over at !DIYMentalHealth@lemmy.dbzer0.com We also have a wiki that specifically includes a page on safety planning!

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