Sometimes life can feel so bad that you don’t want it to go on any more.
Suicidal people don’t necessarily want their life to end – they just want their emotional or physical pain to end.
Suicidal thoughts sometimes start because people feel overwhelmed by their problems or their situation. When we get overwhelmed we can find it hard to see a way out. Our thinking can become very negatively focussed and narrowed down and it becomes difficult to get perspective and find solutions.
Suicidal thoughts are far more common than people realise – we just don’t talk about them – we suffer in silence.
Absolutely anyone might have thoughts of suicide.
People can become suicidal if they have really difficult or upsetting things to deal with or if they have lots of smaller worries that combine to make them feel overwhelmed.
Telling someone how you feel can be embarrassing or frightening. But talking to someone is the first step to getting help, staying safe and developing a sense of hope.
Things you can do
If you feel in immediate danger of taking your own life:
- Talk to someone who can understand such as The Samaritans.
- Talk to your GP.
- Dial 999 or visit A&E.
- Make a safety plan.
- Find out how you can keep yourself safe and increase your coping skills here.
- Take one step at a time.
- Do something else / distract yourself.
- Look after yourself – eat and drink healthily.
Recommended Resources
Read me now:
➤ Staying Safe is a slideshow written by a group of people including professionals supporting suicidal people, people who have got through tough times and people who have supported their own friends and family.
➤ The Recovery Letters are all written with the intention to try and alleviate some of the pain of depression, to make the loneliness slightly more bearable and above all to give hope that you can recover.
Watch me now:
➤ U Can Cope is a 20 minute film made by people who feel suicidal and talks about what they did to cope and recover.
