If you are feeling suicidal right now,
I beg you to please read this site, and reach out for help.
You are NOT alone.
Please give us the few minutes it takes to read this,
then please reach out for help!
Your life is valuable.
There are very few words... which can comfort
a severely suicidal person.
There are few who know the URGENCY...
the pulling, the tearing
the twisting, the turning
the moaning, the crying
the desperately dying
Few words could reach me
as I suffered the punishing torment
as the world of death pushed its way
into my heart and mind compelling me,
darkly drawing me to commit suicide
hurling me towards death and death towards me
I had hundreds of suicidal thoughts a day
and I did not expect to be alive
for the next week or month or even the next day.
But I found treatment & survived.
And you can too...
(from a suicidal woman, who found life again, healed the pain, and now helps others. Her site is:
I don't know who you are, or why you live in such pain, but I do know you must be feeling at bottom's end, if you are reading this.
I would like to ask you to please read this entire page,
and I will keep it brief.
I want to reassure you, that you are NOT a bad person. You are NOT Flawed or strange. You are dealing with pain.
Pain that out weighs your life.
You are not alone, there are people who understand your feelings, they too have been there.
Suicide happens when the pain is unbearable, and you feel isolated.
Your feelings of aloneness, fear, unworthiness, and even uncertainty of suicide are normal when a person has been faced with more pain then they can handle.
Since you are reading this, I can assume you may even be wondering deep down, do I really want to committ suicide.
That is a sign that you are reaching out for help, and I am happy you have.
Right now, you are feeling that the pain out ways the coping mechanisms.
And your feelings are valid.
Sometimes pain out weighs everything.
What I hope to do, is to show you that the resources for coping are every where, and maybe then you will reconsider your thought.
You can reduce your urge to committ suicide if you can find a way to reduce the pain.
You can also reduce your urge if you can find coping mechanisms to help you reduce the pain, understand the pain, and eventually heal from the pain.
This probably sounds hard, but I would like to tell you a few things, in hopes that it will make it easier.
First thing you need to know is that people have gotten past the suicide feelings, and have lived a happy life. You can too.
Next I would really like it if you would give yourself some time. People may feel suicidal, but they don't actually have to do it. Set some time aside to think this through, and give yourself a chance.
People do have suicide thoughts, but they also survive them!
People turn to suicide for a release from the pain, you have to feel pain to release from it, if you committ suicide, you are not feeling it, and cannot get the well deserved release.
You deserve a chance at release from pain!
You need to know that if you share your feelings of suicide with some people, they may not react in the proper way.
This is THEIR problem, and NOT yours.
Some people do not understand.
Some people cannot cope with their own fears about suicide.
YOU ARE NOT TO BLAME!
However,
There are people out there who can help you during this terrible time.
They are people who truly care.
Who understand that right now, your pain out weighs your life.
I want you to use your time, the gift you gave yourself, and reach out to these people.
State by State Help Lines, 24hrs
Go See Someone!
Family
Friend
Co-worker
Urgent Care Clinic
Crisis Center
Call Someone!
Go See Someone!
Clergy Person
Medical Doctor
Psychiatrist
Counselor
Teacher, Dean
Professor
Don't Minimize or Discount Your Feelings !!
Don't Hold Back ! Tell Them You Are In Danger.
Don't Be Alone
Be With People
Ask a Friend or Family to Come Over and Stay With You For A While or Overnight
Don't Be Alone
Stay With People
Go to the Home of a Friend or Family and Stay For A While or Overnight
EMAIL:
"We will provide you with emotional support using e-mail"
jo@samaritans.org Send Standard E-mail to The Samaritans
Your E-Mail address is known.
samaritans@anon.twwells.com Get help by Anonymous E-mail to The Samaritans.
Your E-mail address is kept confidential from us.
The Samaritans listen in total confidence without judgement, whatever your situation.
IF YOU NEED IMMEDIATE HELP...
The internet is not a great place for immediate one on one communication. If you're feeling suicidal or overwhelmed by anxiety, internet help is available but should be tried only after you have called a friend, loved one, clergy, doctor, local hot line, or 911.
TELL SOMEONE!
TELL SOMEONE WHO CARES!
Online has a wealth of people that care, here are a few:
or email this survivor at:
suicidepreventionhelp@mail.usa.com
The Suicide-Support mailing list provides an electronic support group where people can discuss suicidal feelings, thoughts, intentions or previous attempts in a safe, emotionally supportive environment. Membership of the list is open to anyone seeking emotional support regarding potentially self-destructive situations, and to people willing to offer support in a non-judgemental manner. List members who offer support do so in their spare time on an ad-hoc basis, and come from a diverse variety of backgrounds and experiences.
Subscribe to the Suicide-Support Mailing-List
In the body of your email message, write:
subscribe
I want you to know, thoughts of suicide are traumatic. Please continue to care for yourself, even after you receive help.
Find a group that helps you deal with the pain.
There are many online support groups.
Utilize them.
I want you to also know, I truly am glad your alive.
I have lost two friends to suicide.
Trust me,
The pain they left behind is feelings I now carry!
I miss them, and hurt because they are gone.
I wish I had this letter to give them before they made the decision to leave.
They didnt reach out.
You did.
Please keep reaching!
If You Are Feeling Suicidal
If you have begun to think of suicide, it is important to recognize suicidal thoughts for what they are: expressions of a treatable medical condition. Don't let embarrassment stand in the way of vital communication with your physician and members of your support system.
There are many different ways to cope with the suicidal thoughts that can occur during depression. Working with your doctor, there are also important first steps you can take before such symptoms strike to find a solution that will work for you.
Tell your doctor. Provided you share them with your doctor, suicidal thoughts can be treated. When these thoughts occur, they are your signal that, more than ever before, you need the help of medical professionals.
Tell a trusted friend, family member or other support person. When people don't understand the facts about suicide and depressive illnesses, they respond in ways that can cut off communication and make the problems worse. That's why it is important to find someone you trust and can talk with honestly. It's also why your doctor or healthcare professional can be an important resource in helping you and your family separate the truth about depressive illnesses from the myths.
Treatments Will Help
Thinking of suicide isn't just one symptom of depressive disorders--it is what you experience when you can no longer fight depression's other symptoms. Even with suicidal thinking, treatment can help.
Some facts about treatment:
There are many different medications and therapies for treatment of depressive disorders. One is almost sure to help you stabilize a depressive episode--if you persist. The question is usually not if but when treatment will begin to work for you. It is important not to give up and to recognize that your doctor is your partner in the battle to overcome the symptoms of depression.
Finding the right treatment for you may take time. If you are taking medication and it doesn't seem to be helping, the hopelessness and anxiety of depression combined with the difficulty of waiting for treatment to work can lead to feelings that nothing will ever help. The right medication takes typically three to four weeks to reduce symptoms and perhaps several weeks longer to achieve complete relief. While depression may hinder your ability to tap the sources of joy and pleasure that would give you the energy to fight back, knowing what is coming can be half the battle.
When depression is beginning to come under control, don't despair if your symptoms reappear. Brief temporary episodes of recurrence need not threaten your recovery if you keep in touch with your doctor.
Before Suicidal Thoughts Strike: Develop an Action Plan for Life
Most depression related suicides occur during the first three depressive episodes before the patient has learned that an episode of suicidal thinking is always temporary. Those who survive the crisis by planning for it in advance, one day at a time, will survive their depressive illness. As people become more familiar with the illness--and learn from experience that any given episode will eventually pass--the likelihood that they will actually act on suicidal impulses drops sharply.
Before thoughts of suicide take hold, it is important to have decided on the course of action that you will take when a suicidal episode occurs. Therefore, if you start thinking about taking your own life, the only thing you will need to worry about is following your plan for life.
You will want to discuss your plan with your doctor and perhaps with family and close friends so that if you need their help, they can respond quickly and effectively. At the end of this brochure isa sample plan one person has used to manage suicidal episodes. Listed below are some additional items you may find helpful to include in your action plan for life.
Prepare to contact your doctor. Have your doctor's phone number with you and a backup number such as a psychiatric emergency room or suicide crisis line.
Prepare to contact trusted friends. In advance you'll want to develop a list with phone numbers of friends or family members you trust and who will provide support to you during a suicidal episode.
Educate those you trust about your condition before it becomes a crisis so they can be prepared if they are called upon to help. Consider providing key support people with your plan for life.
Recognize symptoms for what they are. Identify with your doctor in advance the symptoms you are likely to experience when depression is at its worst. Write them down to help you keep them in perspective during a suicidal episode
Write down your thoughts. Before a suicidal episode strikes, spend a little time each day writing down your thoughts about hopes for the future and the people you value in your life. Then be prepared to read what you've written when you need to remind yourself why your own life is important.
Avoid drugs and alcohol. In the final analysis, most deaths by suicide result from sudden, uncontrolled impulses. Since drugs and alcohol contribute to such impulses, it is essential to avoid them. Drugs and alcohol will also undermine your efforts to get well again by interfering with the effectiveness of most medications for the treatment of depressive illnesses.
Recognize the earliest warning signs of a suicidal episode. Because depression and manic depression are medical conditions, there are often subtle warning signs your body will give you when an episode is coming on. Over time you can learn to be sensitive to them.
Know when it's best to go to the hospital. There are times when depression becomes so severe that hospitalization is the best way to protect your health and safety. If your doctor believes that hospitalization is necessary to help you through the worst of your depression, be sure he or she knows which hospital you prefer and has your most recent medical records. It is also a good idea to know the extent of your insurance coverage in the event you must be hospitalized. Keep other relevant health care information in a convenient and accessible place.
