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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Reaching out

replies: 4

Hello everyone! I’ve never spoken or asked for help, I’ve been feeling suicidal the last few days , mainly from financial stress, can anyone give me any advice on what or who helps them ? Thank you

I’m trapped. How can I escape? There’s no hope.

replies: 48

The pictures and flashes of me killing myself are an endless loop. They go on and on and on and I can’t stop them. I don’t know what to do anymore. I get triggered so easily. I just want this pain to end. I’m trapped in my own head. I’m suffocating in air I thought was safe. I can’t escape... how do I escape this? There has to be another way. I fear there may not be any hope for me anymore. No one can help me so why bother? It’s like I’m dead already, just watching myself. Like I’m not even here anymore. What’s the point of this. It’s getting too much, how do I escape my own mind?

Have no motivation

replies: 5

Hey Need some ideas as I have no motivation and feel like a failure.I do get thoughts of self harm but I wouldn’t go through with any of it. I am off work at the moment as I can not deal with it at the moment

Hey, second time here 🙄

replies: 13

Hey i posted here back in 2017. feeling useless, tired and really just want to give up. i posted here in 2017, feeling exactly the same although probably more now than then. im now 46, married with an 18 yo daughter. Still getting absolutely no where in life, I work and pay bills, that’s it. That’s all I do, nothing else. All I now want to do is shut myself away from everyone and everything and just disappear. I’m really done with life, I have lived the last 20 years like this and I can’t do it anymore. I have one or two good days here and there where I can have a laugh, but that’s getting rarer and rarer. sorry for the waffle on, just need to get it off my chest

bf cheated with sex workers

replies: 4

I found out over a year ago that my bf of 20 years had cheated on me with escorts from sex and dating websites and visited brothels locally and also when he had been away on his annual holidays without me. This had gone on for over 4 years from the proof i have but i couldn't go further back to know if he had done it our whole relationship. He denied it all and said he was only looking at pictures but his phone records show a different story, 50 calls to sex workers in one day was one of the records. I am still with him but every day I'm in tears and sometimes i don't even eat because i feel so sick about it all. I don't know if he is still doing it as I'm to mentally drained to keep checking up on him so i don't look at his phone or anything anymore and i have suicidal thoughts on bad days, i sometimes wish i was dead so i didn't have to think about it all anymore. I feel like i wasted so many years on this person and i love him so much and had always done everything for him. Can something like this heal or will i feel like this every day forever, its already been over a year and tears still flow and i look at him and cant believe he lies to me when i know everything hes done, i just hadn't told him how much information i have. 20 years is a long time to throw away

Just WITHOUT Sense/Hope/Direction

replies: 2

For me I am 26 Year's Old and I am still pursuing My Driving Tragically, I've had a lot of Prior and Current Set Issues with that, I can Pay for that at the moment fortunately though, I also don't have Payed Work History, Just 11 Month's Volunteer In a Salvo's Role In something that I didn't want, I don't have any Academic Entry/Level or Interest for a Generic UNIVERSITY Course to prosper me a Bachelor Degree, and the Responsibility Element next to TAFE, Is harder to adjust to for my position, I don't like anything at TAFE, My Only Generic Educational Curriculum towards Traditional Study was Nutrition, but If If I can't handle a Bachelor Degree, than It's Just a Cert IV at TAFE, I don't want Entry Job's, Retail, Hospitality and Factory and I don't want Construction, Apprenticeships or Trades I don't have any Friend's without Standard Driving and Work, you feel In valuable to have any, and you feel Ugly without Women Experience too My Father Oppresses me from Talking about my Problem's, and my Mother Speaks Positively but than She act's like I'm complaining and that Change Is Just not going to Happen, She treats me as a Special Individual, and accepts my Life to be Meaningless For me I am wanting to be Creative with Music, but I feel Under Confident with my Father Living at Home, I also wouldn't want that Direction with a Hopeful Generic Status Life, and I'm not Extroverted for a Stage, My Personality still deeply want's to be Creative and Talented, as a Hobbie, I also wouldn't want Company that I don't Relate or Like There's Really No Alternatives, as Creativity Is the Main Fulfillment and Interest, Hope for me, and It's not Just a Reality of a Pathway that wouldn't suit me, It's something that seems as the only Suited thing, I Just can't make sense of my Life, and with me, No one can understand, They only give me Wishful thinking

A somewhat Positive Achievement

replies: 47

Hi everyone, I just wanted to share a somewhat important milestone for myself. A few days ago I went to a GP to get a mental health plan done. This was huge for me as I have a fear of doctors and feel like I don't deserve help. While I experienced some of the highest anxiety levels in my life leading up and on the day of my GP visit it went relatively ok. The GP I saw was respectful and understanding of mental health which is rare within the medical field. Also just a random question but has anyone done the dass 21 assessment? How did u find it? I think as a mental health assessment it isn't too bad. The plan for myself is to start the process to go to a headspace clinic. This is inevitably going to be a long process as the wait times are always long (I have been to headspace before when I was younger). While this is not their fault as they do their best while fighting a difficult battle, it is hard knowing I will have to continue to fight my battle alone for a while longer. I know this sounds selfish as there are people going through worse things. To complicate things where I live we have gone back into lockdown (I am sure u will all figure out which state I am in so hello to my fellow West Aussies). While it is only 5 days and I both understand and respect the need for this lockdown (we have to do our best to protect the vulnerable and each other), it does mean my wait for headspace will be even longer. I know this sounds selfish as there are bigger things going on but I am really struggling. Anyways enough about me. While I have the energy to write up a post I just want to apologise for not offering more support to everyone in this online community. I find that whenever I go to type a response or offer support it just doesn't sound right. I worry about saying the wrong thing. So while I may not respond, I promise that I see u, I hear u and I support u.

Help me to not care what happens after!

replies: 11

‘I am safe’ currently... But I wish I had the courage to end it yesterday, today or tomorrow. I wasn’t in a good place before all this bullshit began with Covid, but for at least 6 months now I’ve been constantly thinking about how not existing would be so much easier, peaceful... and how to go about that... (It is not the flu itself, but the insanity and response from Governments worldwide that has really destroyed my ability to care about living anymore), the new Australia many in power talk about, new rules, vaccination passports, tracking etc and possible forced vaccinations, or at least coerced, no jab=no job etc has killed off the last bit of what I used to believe what Australia was and my place in it. I don’t even know why I’m writing this as I’ve lost all faith in humanity... the one thing really stopping me from going through with it is my parents, especially my mum, as I know it would really destroy her (she’s in her 70’s and in a weird way, it comforts me to think I may not have to wait long). I’m tortured in my mind every single stinking day... real joy has gone, and I wish I could too.

New to the community

replies: 2

Hello, I’ve been looking for a safe space to honestly divulge my feelings and thoughts. You can call me Tina, I’m a student, part-time employee, and a mother. Lately,I’ve been feeling like there are so many things going on all at once, and I’m getting tired and overwhelmed. Sometimes I feel like I’m not appreciated. I feel that there’s a constant need for me to please people around me, for me to be accepted. I always feel like I have to say yes all the time to doing people favours so I will be loved or liked. And these feelings are just really exhausting, so sometimes I wish unto my self and I thought of it as being luck, if anything was to happen to me then lucky, I won’t have to deal with everything else anymore. I hate feeling this way, I always think of my son and my family whom I support whenever I find myself in a bad place. But there are times that the urge to feel relieved of all the responsibilities and all the emotions really get me thinking of just stopping.

Emptiness

replies: 2

I'm stuck. I don't know how to break this cycle. I feel empty, and cannot see through the dark. I am overwhelmed with thoughts of suicide , they fill my mind. I dont believe I will self harm, but also a big part of me feels at some point down the long road that wont be the case. That at some point its inevitable I'm too scarred to move, every step i take i feel like i sink a little further. For the first time in my life when these feelings arise, i have saught help Initially, first contacts with the system were all positive, i felt seen for the first time ever. Since getting going with a new GP, i feel lost, unseen and un noticed. I sit for up to 30minsbeyond my appointment, anxious and scarred, and spend approx 5 - 8mins with the GP before leaving, feeling like nothings happened She reffered me to a psychologist, I have rang, left voice message, texted and left my details, and still have had no contact. My gp says she has created a care plan, but apartfrom the phone number to the psychologist I know nothing else about it. I find myself lonely in a way i have never experienced before, when i wake Up i just find myself wishing i could stay or go back to sleep. When i try to reach out to my sister for help, her response is anger and i feel like i make things worse. It feels like icould fade away and no one would notice

Do you have a safety plan? replies: 97

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

Reaching out replies: 4

I’m trapped. How can I escape? There’s no hope. replies: 48

Have no motivation replies: 5

Hey, second time here 🙄 replies: 13

bf cheated with sex workers replies: 4

Just WITHOUT Sense/Hope/Direction replies: 2

A somewhat Positive Achievement replies: 47

Help me to not care what happens after! replies: 11

New to the community replies: 2

Emptiness replies: 2