Suicidal thoughts and self-harm

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Do you have a safety plan?

replies: 97

Safety planning involves creating a structured plan – ideally with support from your health professional or someone you trust – that you work through when you’re experiencing suicidal thoughts, feelings, distress or crisis. Your safety plan starts with things you can do by yourself, such as thinking about your reasons to live and distracting yourself with enjoyable activities. It then moves on to coping strategies and people you can contact for support – your friends, family and health professionals. The safety planning model was developed in the US by suicide prevention experts Barbara Stanley and Gregory Brown. It has been used extensively by US veterans’ health organisations, hospital emergency departments and high schools, and there is strong evidence that it works. Many health professionals in Australia also use some form of safety planning to support clients experiencing suicidal thoughts or feelings, or after a suicide attempt. beyondblue has an app you can use to create a safety plan, called BeyondNow. The BeyondNow app takes the principles of safety planning and makes it even easier to use – so rather than carrying around a piece of paper, you’ve got it on your phone at all times. It’s free to download from the Apple Store or Google Play. If you don’t have a smartphone or would prefer to use your desktop or laptop, BeyondNow is also available to use on our website. Do you have a safety plan? Do you have questions around how you might create one, or fill out some of the sections? This thread is for discussing ideas around creating a safety plan, and sharing tips about what has been most useful about this process for you. Below are two videos featuring Peter and Nic, who have both used safety plans successfully. Peter Nic

PLEASE READ THIS FIRST: posting in this section

replies: 0

Life gets pretty hard sometimes and many people in this online community have had times where they have thought about hurting themselves or ending their life. This can be a stressful and at times overwhelming experience, and this section is here to help members who have had these experiences. This is a place to share where you are at, seek ideas for help and know that you are not alone. We are here to create a safe environment for everyone. Please do not provide any details about any plans/ideas that you may have had to hurt yourself, and importantly, help us to understand if you are safe by letting us know in the post. Making comments that let us know that you are having thoughts, but are safe, helps us to know that your conversation can continue without interruption, and that we do not need to put any further follow up for you in place. This section will not be for everyone.It shows posts from people who are distressed, offers public replies to these posts, and encourages people to come back and share how they got past that difficult point in time - what worked, what didn’t and how they now approach these difficult thoughts. It is important to think about what you want from the forums, what information you need and what threads will be helpful to your situation, rather than reading everything that is posted. For some people this section might be difficult to read – if it is not helping how you feel, then please consider moving to another section. This section, like the rest of our forums, is closely monitored and all posts are reviewed by moderators before publication. Moderators will also ensure that anyone needing follow up will be provided with information about how to access further support. This section remains a discussion forum focused on helping each other through the dark times, it is not a crisis support service. Any posts that do not abide by the community rules will not be published. Unlike other areas of the forum, threads in this section will be closed after a period of one month of inactivity. If you are in crisis or need immediate help, assistance is not available via these forums. Please call Suicide Call Back 1300 659 467, Lifeline 13 11 14 or contact emergency services on 000.

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wishing i was dead and just sharing about how i feel about life

replies: 15

i am not sure how to use this forum. i dont want to post anything into a public forum which might be wrong to post. i want to tell anyone how i am feeling and what i have been thinking about. but i realise that some or much of my life situation might be my own fault. maybe im not strong enough or motivated enough to keep myself well and handling life. i get sad and i worry about life. many have worries about money and how to pay for everything that life might throw at us. i dont want everything to be about money and i am unsure but thinking that other struggles are happening to. as the title says i wish i was dead. have wished for this for many years. but i guess here i am just trying to talk about why and what i feel like. i guess i just feel like life can be to difficult to handle sometimes. it feels like very often or even everyday. im sorry if not text not laid out well. was going to be all one paragraph until i tried to split things up. all this in this post might be to much stuff. i feel like i have so much to say but not sure if it is ok to say it all here. i have tried to talking to lifeline and beyond blue about how i have been feeling. i tried quite a bit of working, volunteering and doing some study during my 20s and 30s. there was enough problems during doing these things. having always had trouble working etc might affect how much money is available. maybe i dont trust people. maybe i feel like i cant handle people and problems. maybe i am worried that i will not be able to handle much of what life throws at us at different times. just the last few weeks, i have been worried about anything that could and does happen in life. i have not felt ok. i have felt sad. have had problems getting along with family for a long time. and even just the last few months have had to little to no contact with family. my family would be currently only 3 people. i only have a few friends. i am feeling guilty now for wishing my life was over. i have felt this way because my life feels like it has been to much worry and sadness etc. i am worried if i will be handle anything and everything that might happen in life. i try to avoid people quite often because obv it seems easier to avoid. i dont feel like i get on well with people and i feel like i cant handle people and problems. there might or might not often be problems. i wanted to use this to share thoughts and feelings. but im not sure it is going ok.

eating and self harm struggles

replies: 1

hi there, im very new to the platform but was just hoping someone would be able to listen and make me feel like its not totally abnormal to feel this way, as the last year I've lost a lot of friends and feel quite alone. I struggled from 2022-24 and then seeked helps with medication and psychology consultation. I struggled from both very frequent self harm, anorexia nervosa, major depression and generalised anxiety disorder, however didn't seek help for a long time. 2025 while on medication the eating disorder was quietend signifcatly however the past 5 months, some unknown factor significantly triggered me and im back t the old anorexia mindset including daily purging and also extreme worthlessness stemmed from body image, causing frequent self harm again. the self harm last year was less as my parents knew and therefore they gave me very little breathing room to allow me to self harm. however, they dont know about this currents emotional turmoil and I dont want to tell them as they will take awaye my only coping mechanisms that are preventing me from ending my life (I have attempted in the past) when I couldn't use these mechanisms but they are unaware. I guess I was just seeking if anyone else has had similar struggles and what to do in my situation apart from talking to my parents. Ive tried sh prevention strategies but if I dont sh I move onto purging as it cannot be seen to my parents. Take care x

Is my mind fabricating sadness?

replies: 3

hi, to the kind souls reading this, im annabel and i am very thankful that you are reading this, sorry that its a long one im 16 turning 17 in a few weeks, and i promised myself that i would not exist past 16. Ive had this thought since i was 14. but in between 14-16 i was happy as in i did school well, befriended my best friends and grew more confident (thankful for the people in my lfie). But for the past few months ive started to feel fatigued or ive just felt hollow, like all people view me is a shell or a mask ive put up and not the true me(if i even know who that is)? But it wasnt a mask before; its as if ive changed drastically and ive lost who i am. I heard its called an ego death? - loss of identity and truth in one self. Then i found out my parents are going to have a divorce once i become financially stable and only stayed together because i was born an accident. Thus ive been a burden. I wont get into too much detail. It just makes me feel down for some reason. But to my core i dont even know i feel it - kind of hollow feeling, as if i haven’t existed or my existence is pointless in that its ok if i dont exist? It will end my “suffering” if i leave, and will cause little pain for others, cause how can they miss a picture of myself i put up? How can they miss someone they dont know? Maybe im being overdramatic or this is all fake. Nothing ive done is successive so is my sadness amounted to physically nothing? Maybe all i want is a label for how im feeling because all im doing is spirally everynight but i feel like im begging to be diagnosed depressed and not truely it? Like its all fake? I cant do my school work, i get tired moving and i have no joy in things i like anymore. I dont have motivation to get better, or maybe i find comfort in this. My head is becoming a war and all i want to do is cry. I am a happy person, i can change this, its all fabricated versus this is who i am and i want to keep being in this sadness. My question is; is what im feeling normal? Does everyone have these thoughts? Should i go get help? (maybe im scared that doctors will say that this is normal and i will get over it.?? Whenever i open up i feel like im lying just to have soemthing medical (“a proper reason”) to justify my sadness, i sound like a really awful person sorry) im sorry

I really feel this is going to be my last year…

replies: 1

Greetings to the very little people who even bother to check up on my account…. But everything hasn’t gotten any better in my love life, friendships and family mostly because for how much I’ve fought and wished for the possible future I could share my love and passions with.. and it’s funny coming into this year I played a little game by the name of “Omori the dreamer” after the 4 plus years of isolation, dissociation, and the many scars I’d have inflicted upon myself…. all the messaging, symbolism and themes this game had to say especially for what the original had meant to me.. I can say even with all the abandonment and sexual abuse I’d had to go through the last 2 years I haven’t had a piece of media break me down like it did again 5 years ago for how much I hold to it personally.. but I feel for all my passions I hold for the things I love.. have just never been accepted and cherished by the people who I wished will love me for all I am rather then the doll they wanted. I’m alone and scared for what I’ll do to myself this year I just don’t want to go out like this…..

Help

replies: 2

I have struggled with mental health for many years. Have been medicated, which I've taken for years. I've tried going off it many times. However my family (wife of 35 years, adult children) can tell the difference between me on and off meds. The last few times, I've realised myself that I actually do need help. Due to recent physical and mental trauma I can't seem to get beyond feelings of despair, emptyness, worthlessness. I get through every day barely and I often think of ways to ease my pain I'm under the care of a pshycatrist and I'm worried if I tell him whats going on that he'll hospitalise me. This is something I don[t think i could cope with. what do i tell him?

Tired of fighting this battle.

replies: 211

I hope im ok to post as ive posted so often on other forums but im feeling very desperate lately. Im just so tired of fighting. I left a job i was in for many years last year. I have since had some part time work that didnt work out. Im lonely and going broke. I was desperate and called triple o last week only to be left to my own devices again. I may be going into a facility called parc a non acute inpatient service but that thought scares me. I dont know how much more i can endure. I hope every one is well and thank you for reading Brett

Parents supporting adult daughter with suicidal thoughts

replies: 2

We are parents of a 20yo daughter who is having a tough time with her mental health and opened up today for the first time saying she wants to end her life. The reasons for her grief and trauma are complex and I won't go into detail here. We are just... View more

I wanna go to heaven i don’t belong here

replies: 9

I don’t belong here i don’t belong here

Struggling to find the value in sticking things out

replies: 2

There is no point to my being here. I'm deeply unhappy and can barely remember I time I felt otherwise. My life has not been enjoyable, and due to my current situation, I cannot see that changing. Logically, I believe it will only get more difficult to manage. In addition, very few people seem to want me around either. I'm not popular at work- I barely talk to my coworkers and a few even seem annoyed with me. My therapist thinks I'm autistic, which would help explain why I find it very difficult to fit in. I suppose I just rub people the wrong way. Also, my family situation is problematic, worsening with time. Adding my personal issues to the mix would solve nothing and would simply exacerbate the problems. I have a few good friends but due to my mental health I've not been consistent with keeping in touch. I'm safe right now. Just hoping to hear from some people who have felt the same. And maybe someone can give me some advice: how can things get better if the circumstances can't be changed?

I can't justify my existence

replies: 7

Hi brand new here. Sorry for the instant dump. I've never actually written this out before and would like to know if I am alone with this. (might even feel good getting it off my chest) I have struggled existential dread for around 6 years (I'm 31). Every day I question my existence, it's like suddenly one day I woke up, and have been like this ever since. I'm not currently at risk of self harm or suicide but I feel a constant intrusive desire to no longer exist/die. I have a pretty stable life a good job in Aged Care, a supportive partner, and pets. However at work I feel entirely replaceable and find no inherent purpose in reality. My view on life and people is dominated by a timeline view, where I see everyone and everything as meaningless and destined for death. eg - I am watching a movie and I see the actors in the movie as 'working a job' and this is a part of something they did before they died. Feels like I am at a funeral and watching memoirs would be the best way to describe it. Same goes when I am interacting with anyone. I feel no connection + every interaction feels fake and scripted. Convinced I shouldn't exist because I was conceived through deception (Mum went off the pill for another centrelink baby, Dad tried to abort they split), making me constantly remind myself I was not meant to be here in the first place. I find myself hoping for accidental death in every situation, often subconsciously seeking out risks (going for a hike when a storm is forecasted) (walking at night in high crime areas). - Things like this, never actively trying to die, but introducing it into scenarios. I only remain here out of a sense of duty to my partner and pets. I struggle to plan for the future, whether it's tomorrow, next week or next year. Because I truly hope it doesn't come. I have seen psych's who have disgnosed me with quite the lot (Bipolor II, ADHD, Depression, Anxiety) and will continue to see them to push on, the meds they give me just make me tired and bored. So now I exist with the weight of the meds too. I get it though we are all going to die, so have fun in the meantime? That's the fix so I have been told. Whenever someone says something like that it feels so forced disingenuous that I can't accept that as an answer because none of this is not fun for me. Does anyone else feel this dread? I feel like I am losing my mind.

Do you have a safety plan? replies: 97

PLEASE READ THIS FIRST: posting in this section replies: 0

wishing i was dead and just sharing about how i feel about life replies: 15

eating and self harm struggles replies: 1

Is my mind fabricating sadness? replies: 3

I really feel this is going to be my last year… replies: 1

Help replies: 2

Tired of fighting this battle. replies: 211

Parents supporting adult daughter with suicidal thoughts replies: 2

I wanna go to heaven i don’t belong here replies: 9

Struggling to find the value in sticking things out replies: 2

I can't justify my existence replies: 7