Real Student Stories

Picture of Tomas story archive >> '; document.getElementById('storyimage').src='images/anna100.jpg';">

Picture of Anna A homophobic upbringing meant Craig struggled to come out to his parents and to fully accept himself, leading eventually to drug and alcohol addiction. Inpatient rehab helped him return to uni… more > >

Also in "How Depression Works"...

“I got quite obsessed about not feeling like I could go through with going home for Christmas. It almost seems ridiculous looking back on it, but I thought the only way to get out of going home for Christmas would be to kill myself. I was so depressed and I felt so guilty.” Becky

“It's amazing how differently your mind works when you're going through depression - you just can"t judge how you are. You can't kind of see what's going. Sometimes you think you"re acting normally and your friends will be like "No, that's really not normal!" When you're in the frame of mind where killing yourself feels like a perfectly valid and acceptable option, your sense of perspective is out the window; it's completely non-existent." Ben

Students Against Depression
print preview print page close preview

Thinking About Suicide

Engulfed Have you made specific plans?
Might you act impulsively on your thoughts?
It is vital that you GET HELP NOW - go straight to the crisis page

Pain and desperation

Thoughts about suicide can reflect the intense pain and sense of desperation that depression can bring. Having the thoughts can also in itself bring much pain and anguish.

Also common

However, it is important to be aware that thoughts about suicide can be quite common - one way in which the mind tests out feelings. Having suicidal thoughts does not mean you are doomed to act on them!

Many people deeply regret an attempted suicide once they have moved on from depression.

Bottom of the depression habit spiral

A series of many little things can contribute to a depression habit spiral which leads downward to suicidal thinking. Depressed thinking habits bring about a narrowed perspective which significantly clouds one"s judgment. This tunnel vision reduces the ability to find complex, rather than all-or-nothing, solutions to problems.

Ultimate form of depressed thinking

The issue of suicide can be hotly debated. Some argue that suicide is a result of depression and should always be treated; others argue that the freedom to choose is everyone's right, but... Someone affected by depression is usually not in a position to make a free and unbiased decision about suicide. Thinking about suicide is the ultimate all-or-nothing thinking habit - the idea that only total relief will provide any relief from the painful despair depression brings.

A habit needing challenging

You can learn how to ride out your suicidal thoughts, reduce their frequency and eventually stop them bothering you. Surviving suicidal thoughts means challenging and resisting them, just like other habits of depressed thinking. Sometimes, making sense of suicide also requires a critical evaluation of some of the social and cultural influences on our thinking (see depression in context).

self harm >>

Links

More about suicide: making sense of suicide , surviving suicidal thoughts , desperate right now?
More about getting help: getting help and support , what's stopping me getting help?
More about how depression works: the depression habit spiral , depressed thinking , challenging depressed thinking
More about how others have dealt with suicidal thoughts: real student stories
More about social and cultural influences on depressed thinking: depression in context

Change Text Only Settings

Graphic version of this page