Thank you so much for this important post. I will resteem it and promote it.

I just went through this recently. In the case I dealt with the note was not subtle. It said " Im done goodbye I can't take it anymore." And I knew her to be on the brink. She has severe mental illness that has grown worse over the years. I was really worried. She has Manic depression, bipolar, borderline personality disorder and she drinks. And for the most part refuses treatment.

Like you she lived far away, two states. I had her cell phone number but no address. Nobody was picking up. But it was a small town. What I did was call the police and ask for a welfare check. And they did one without an address which impressed me. They said they get a lot of FB suicide threats. I knew if she was just drunk she would likely not speak to me for a long time. Luckily that ended up to be the case. She had gotten really drunk and passed out before she could do anything. The police came and she spoke to them and they left considering her to be OK for the moment.

I do not regret this action. Had I not done it and she had taken her life it would have been hard to live with. She did not speak to me for several weeks but eventually thanked me. I hate calling the police on someone but in this case it was the best option.

Its a tough situation. This is someone I care for deeply and have known for 30 years. At the same time I cant be around her much. The drinking is too much I cant stand to see her do that to herself.

Things to watch out for with people threatening suicide. Giving their things away. Things they would not normally just give away. Im not talking about the TV its usually personal things that have meaning to them, prize possessions and/or making a will; tidying up personal affairs; writing notes; making notes on belongings.

There is more it's easy to google. I have lost 4 people to suicide. This is an important issue. Thank you for bringing this up.
Direct and indirect verbal expressions: “I don’t want to live anymore”, “there is nothing to live for anymore”, “people will be better off without me” are also common. It is hard to know what to do. She says these things daily.