Definition (1)
- Suicide: What to do when someone is suicidal
Prevention (1)
- Considering suicide? How to stay safe and find treatment
Risk factors (1)
- Depression (major depression)
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Considering suicide? How to stay safe and find treatment
Despair and hopelessness may lead you to think about suicide. Learn how to stay safe, get through a crisis and find treatment.
By Mayo Clinic staffWhen life doesn't seem worth living anymore or your problems seem insurmountable, you may think that the only way to find relief is through suicide. You might not believe it, but you do have other options — options to stay alive and feel better about your life.
Maybe you think you've already tried them all and now you've had enough. Or maybe you think your family and friends would be better off without you. It's OK to feel bad, but try to separate your emotions from your actions for the moment. Realize that depression, other mental disorders, despair and hopelessness can distort your perceptions and impair your ability to make sound decisions. Suicidal feelings are the result of treatable problems. So try to act as if there are other options instead of suicide, even if you may not see them right now.
No, it may not be easy. You might not feel better overnight. Eventually, though, the sense of hopelessness and thoughts of suicide can lift. You can find support, appropriate treatment and reasons for living.
Immediate help for thoughts of suicide
If you're considering suicide right now and have the means available, talk to someone first. The best choice is to call 911 or your local emergency services number.
If you simply don't want to do that, for whatever reason, you have other choices for reaching out to someone when you feel suicidal:
- Contact a family member or friend.
- Contact a doctor, mental health provider or other health care provider.
- Contact a minister, spiritual leader or someone in your faith community.
- Go to your local hospital emergency room.
- Call a crisis center or hot line.
Crisis centers and suicide hot lines are often listed in the front of your phone book or on the Internet. They generally offer trained volunteer counselors who can help you through an immediate crisis. While some crisis centers with an Internet presence offer e-mail contact, remember that responses may not be as prompt as they are with telephone support.
Talking to someone about your suicidal feelings can help relieve the burden of despair and isolation, even if just temporarily. It may help you shift perspective and more clearly see that you have options instead of suicide.
Daily coping strategies
You may struggle with suicidal feelings frequently, perhaps many times a day if you're in the depths of depression. Develop a strategy to cope with those feelings in a healthy way. Consider asking a doctor, family member or friend to help create a strategy tailored to your specific situation that will help you cope with thoughts of suicide.
That strategy may mean doing things you don't feel like doing, such as making the effort to talk to friends when you'd rather stay in your bedroom all day. Or it may mean going to the hospital for a mental health evaluation. But stick to your strategy, especially when you're in the grips of despair and hopelessness. And if you're already in treatment, be certain to go to all of your psychotherapy appointments and take medications as directed.
As part of your strategy, consider these measures:
- Keep a list of contact names and numbers readily available, including doctors, therapists and crisis centers that can help you cope with suicidal thoughts.
- If your suicide plans include taking an overdose, give your medications to someone who can safeguard them for you and help you take them appropriately.
- Rid your home of knives, guns, razors or other weapons you may consider using for self-destructive purposes.
- Schedule daily activities for yourself that have brought you even small pleasure in the past, such as taking a walk, listening to music, watching a funny movie, knitting or visiting a museum. If they no longer bring you at least a modicum of joy, however, try something different.
- Get together with others, even if you don't feel like it, to prevent isolation.
- Avoid drug and alcohol use. Rather than numb painful feelings, alcohol and drugs can increase suicidal thoughts and the likelihood of harming yourself by making you more impulsive and more likely to act on your self-destructive feelings.
- Write about your thoughts and feelings. Remember to also write about the things in your life that you value and appreciate, no matter how small they may seem at the time.
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