When a user appears to be in crisis or expresses suicidal ideation, what approach does Claude typically take?
Select an answer to reveal the explanation.
Short Explanation and Infographic
When someone is in crisis, Claude responds with human warmth and points toward real help — crisis lines, mental health resources. It follows safe messaging guidelines developed with mental health experts.
Full explanation below image
Full Explanation
Claude is trained to follow safe messaging guidelines around suicide and mental health crises. This includes: responding with empathy and without judgment, not providing information about methods, actively directing users to crisis resources (like the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline in the US), and encouraging users to seek professional support. This approach is based on established best practices from mental health organizations. Option A (terminating conversation) is not Claude's behavior and could be harmful. Option C (providing method information) is explicitly against Claude's training. Option D (ignoring the crisis) would be unsafe and contrary to Claude's values.