How do you suggest approaching getting someone help without setting them over the edge? My biggest fear is that something I say or do will cause him to take his life.

The problem is that you're trying to "get them help."

There's this belief that if a person is suicidal, their thoughts and decisions are now irrelevant. That they don't matter. That they need to be forced to get help and get better "for their own good."

This belief is incorrect and it's also....is some cases.....why suicidal people don't reach out....or lash out when someone suggests it.

You cannot "make" a person get help, or get help for them. You have to approach them where they are and communicate to them that you love them regardless of their decision, and that you support them whether they want to be alive or not. You might not agree with them dying, but that you will still love them even if they are suicidal.

You have to convey to them that it is safe to open up to you. When suicidal people open up, we often get locked up in psych wards and drugged against our will until we swear that we're obedient little boys and girls and that we believe all the right things, Yes Mam and Yes Sir, we are perfect obedient little patients and will never question you.

And that's not just humiliating, it's scary and makes suicidal people not reach out. You can't convince someone to get help...you have to convey to them that you want them to get help, but that you love them no matter what.

Feeling like you're accepted and loved no matter how you feel is better than feeling like you'll be locked up if you ever reach out and suicidal people that feel the firt way rather than the second are more likely to seek help.

TLDR: You can't make someone get help or get help for them; you have to make them feel supported whether they feel better or not and not feel like they're going to be forced to do or think a certain way.