Suicide Prevention

Get Help. Believe in Yourself. Keep Going.

Remember that suicidal thoughts can occur when you feel overwhelmed: I know you are struggling, and I don’t need to actually know you to know that you are feeling overwhelmed with painful emotions. Just knowing you are thinking about suicide communicates that you are overwhelmed and that your coping skills have been outstripped. Perhaps you don’t have the life experience you need to cope with what is going on in your life. Perhaps, you have not yet learned that you are a survivor.

Know that you are doing the best you can: A lot of people do not understand suicide. But that makes sense, because how can you understand suicide from a non-suicidal place? Unless you have been there, it is hard to understand. I absolutely believe (having worked with suicidal patients throughout my career) that suicide is an attempt to save the self rather than to destroy it. You are doing the best you can, and feel desperate for a way out of all this pain. You may feel as if the world would be better off without you in it. You are wrong.

Don’t believe everything you think: Thinking you are a burden, or that your life has no purpose, are thinking errors. You are only thinking this way because you are suicidal. When you are not suicidal you know differently. Just knowing that these are thoughts not steeped in reality, even if you can’t access the truth, can help get you from this moment to the next.

Expand back out: You may feel as if your back is to the wall, and that there are no other solutions out there. If that is the case, know it is because you are deep in the cave, and can only access the black walls around you. You are forgetting about the expansiveness out there. The birds, the trees, the sky, the mountains, and the flowers are all out there, you just can’t see them right now. There are ALWAYS solutions.

Learn how to healthy distract: You are looking for relief, but there is a big difference between getting a break from the pain, versus the permanent escape that suicide ensures. Things won’t get better if you are not here to get the help you need to heal. Dosing of your emotions makes sense, taking breaks through healthy distractions can help.

Find proof that you are not alone: There is help out there, and if you can’t see a future for yourself then you may need to adjust your lens, or find an entirely new pair of glasses. It is ok to ask for help if you need some assistance in finding a new pair, and a new perspective. There are people out there that can help you. Call the suicide prevention hotline at the number listed below. Reality is subjective, and our sense of reality can change. Choose your beliefs wisely.

Get help: I know you feel as if things will never get better. Perhaps you feel as if they have always been bad. You are forgetting the successes, the meaningful interactions or connections with others, and most of all, you are forgetting (or have not yet realized) that you are a survivor. You are forgetting all of these things because you are suicidal, and having a “head attack.” And just like if you were experiencing a heart attack, you may need immediate assistance now. Please contact the suicide prevention hotline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255) or 988 if you are thinking about suicide. Your life matters.

Keep going…even if you have to crawl.

Keep going…because your experience counts.

Keep going…and remember that you deserve your place on this earth just like the rest of us.

Keep going…due to the fact that your future self is depending on you.

Keep going…knowing that help is out there.

Keep going…and do not, under any circumstances, lose faith in yourself.