Surviving Suicidal Thoughts

Needing relief from pain

Suicidal intentions are prompted by a desperate need for relief from intensely painful feelings. Surviving suicidal thoughts is about learning how to find relief without resorting to suicide.

A risky habit

Simply having suicidal thoughts does not mean you will act on them. However, the habit of repeatedly thinking about suicide is a risky one. Repetition brings a sense of falsely comforting familiarity. It dulls the instinctive recoil from danger.

Strategies

• Make a commitment to yourself

  Challenge the self-bullying habit and make a commitment to taking care of yourself as best you possibly can for the moment.
  

• Reduce the risks

  Protect yourself from impulsively acting on your thoughts by putting dangerous objects out of immediate reach. Preferably give pills, weapons etc to someone else for safe-keeping, but even putting them in a locked or inaccessible place makes it a little harder to act impulsively.
  

• Tell someone how you're feeling

  Tell someone else how you are feeling and get appropriate help. You may need to challenge yourself about what's stopping you getting help. Be prepared for non-professionals to be shocked by what you tell them, and don't expect a "perfect" response - it is always better to make human contact than to stay isolated and alone with your thoughts.
  

• Check medication side effects

  Be aware that some anti-depressant medication can increase the risk of suicidal thinking, especially when you first start taking it. Also, when the medication first starts taking effect it can increase your energy and motivation before improving your mood, increasing the risk of acting on suicidal thoughts. Talk to your doctor about the risks and be extra vigilant with other strategies for keeping yourself safe.
  

• Check alchohol and drugs

  Both alcohol and drugs tend to reduce your inhibitions and make it more likely you could do something you will regret the next day. Check your alcohol/drug consumption and try to cut down. Try not to drink alone or to end up alone after drinking.
  

• Give yourself small goals

  Each evening set yourself small tasks or goals for the next day. It can be something as simple as watching a certain TV programme. Or set yourself another task as soon as you have completed one. Just knowing you can still do things you set for yourself despite feeling low can help combat depression.
  

• Minimise time spent alone

  Depression and suicidal thinking thrive in isolation. Try to minimise time spent alone in your room - take work to the library, ask friends to be with you at vulnerable times, make plans ahead for weekends and other lonelier times, generally work on building your support networks.
  

• Understand some of the reasons for suicidal thinking

  Because suicide is such a taboo, you may not be aware of how common it is for people to think about suicide and of the various general reasons for suicidal thinking. Read about making sense of suicide and assess your own suicidal thinking habit to identify which are relevant to you.
  

• Identify depressed thinking habits

  Suicidal thinking is the ultimate all-or-nothing thinking habit, and the culmination of other habits of depressed thinking which intensify the depression habit spiral. Learn how to challenge depressed thinking.
  

• Start breaking the suicidal thinking habit

  We can't stop thoughts from entering our heads, but we can stop actively inviting them in. Try to stop using thoughts of suicide as a barometer for how bad you are feeling. Use distraction techniques (see focusing outward) when you notice thoughts about suicide bothering you, or practise other techniques for challenging depressed thinking.
  

• Work on rebuilding meaning in your life

  Depression works to drain assumed meaning out of life and challenges us to take responsibility for making our lives meaningful. Challenge the cynicism or perfectionism which may be preventing you from embracing hopeful or constructive ideals and goals for your life.
  

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