making well-meant attempts to cheer them up while dismissing the severity of their predicament. Before discharge, it is essential to have prepared a plan to deal with the crisis, making sure that supporting contact (e.g., telephone) is available 24 hours a day. “To-do-steps” of the contingency plan will depend on the intensity of the emotional crisis and should be worked out in cooperation with the patient and caregivers (NSW Department of Health 2004a). Before discharging a suicidal patient from an emergency unit or crisis centre it is always necessary to (AACAP, 2001):