Suicide Thoughts

What is Suicide thoughts

Suicide is the act of intentionally taking your own life.

Suicidal feelings can mean having abstract thoughts about ending your life or feeling that people would be better off without you. Or it can mean thinking about methods of suicide or making clear plans to take your own life.

If you are feeling suicidal, you might be scared or confused by these feelings. You may find the feelings overwhelming.

But you are not alone. Many people think about suicide at some point in their lifetime.

"I couldn't see past the pain. It was a different reality for me. I only knew I wanted the pain to stop, the anguish to go away."

What does it feel like to be suicidal?

Different people have different experiences of suicidal feelings. You might feel unable to cope with the difficult feelings you are experiencing. You may feel less like you want to die and more like you cannot go on living the life you have.

These feelings may build over time or might change from moment to moment. And it's common to not understand why you feel this way.

These are some thoughts, feelings and experiences you may go through if you are feeling suicidal:

Treatment

The two main treatments for Suicide thoughts are psychotherapy and medications. You may benefit most from a combination of the two. It may take some trial and error to discover which treatments work best for you.

Psychotherapy:

Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) is the most effective form of psychotherapy for anxiety disorders. Generally a short-term treatment, CBT focuses on teaching you specific skills to improve your symptoms and gradually return to the activities you've avoided because of anxiety.

Medications

Several types of medications are used to help relieve symptoms, depending on the type of anxiety disorder you have and whether you also have other mental or physical health issues. For example:

Certain antidepressants are also used

Signs & Symptoms

You may feel:

hopeless, like there is no point in living
tearful and overwhelmed by negative thoughts
unbearable pain that you can't imagine ending
useless, not wanted or not needed by others
desperate, as if you have no other choice
like everyone would be better off without you
cut off from your body or physically numb
fascinated by death.

You may:

have poor sleep, including waking up earlier than you want to
experience a change in appetite, weight gain or loss
have no desire to take care of yourself, for example neglecting your physical appearance
want to avoid others
make a will or give away possessions
struggle to communicate
experience self-loathing and low self-esteem
experience urges to self-harm.

Self - Help

Tips for coping right now

try not to think about the future – just focus on getting through today
stay away from drugs and alcohol
get yourself to a safe place, like a friend's house
be around other people
do something you usually enjoy, such as spending time with a pet

Worried about someone else?

If you're worried about someone, try to get them to talk to you. Ask open-ended questions like: "How do you feel about...?"

Do not worry about having the answers. Just listening to what someone has to say and taking it seriously can be more helpful.

See Samaritans' tips on how to start a difficult conversation.

Rethink also has advice on how to support someone who is having suicidal thoughts.

Find out More:

Contact a helpline or listening service

If you can't talk to someone you know, call a helpline or listening service.

For example, you could call Samaritans on 116 123 if you want to talk to somebody about how you're feeling at any time.

Or if you'd prefer not to talk over the phone, you could try a text service such as Shout's crisis text service – text SHOUT to 85258.

Use online peer support

You could try using online peer support to talk about how you're feeling. For example, you could try Elefriends, Mind's supportive online community.

Find out More:

Emergency Action plan:

Get through the next five minutes

Taking things minute by minute can help make things more bearable. Reward yourself each time five minutes have passed.

Use our 'I need urgent help' tool for practical ideas to help you through the next few minutes.

Remove anything you could use to harm yourself

Remove any items or things you could use to harm yourself or ask someone else to remove these for you. If you're in an unsafe location, move away to somewhere safer.