Dutch people who are thinking of killing themselves can sign up for an internet-based suicide prevention course.

The course has been developed by the Clinical Psychology department at Amsterdam’s VU University. The department is now looking for suicidal volunteers to test whether the course actually works.

The VU researchers say 400,000 people in the Netherlands regularly contemplate suicide. Many of them may not seek help because of shame, fear of stigma, or mistrust of the mental health services. The university thinks a web-based course could be an ideal way to reach this group.

The course aims to help participants control their suicidal thoughts through a series of six lessons with a weekly task and exercises. The volunteers will be divided into two groups, one of which will start the programme immediately, the other after a six-week wait. The researchers will then survey the two groups to see if there is any difference.

The university says its ethics committee has approved the experiment. It remains to be seen whether by the end of the trial the second group of test subjects is smaller than the first.