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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Sick and tired of being sick

replies: 207

Hello. I'm battling multiple auto immune diseases along with chronic pain. I'm sick and tired of being sick and tired; physically, mentally, emotionally and financially etc. I've got no partner, kids or family around. And very few real friends that actually bother to check in on me. My shrink retired earlier in the year. I'm on medication but lately my health has once again deteriorated. Including over $2500 worth of urgent dental work with more needed afterwards. I can't take much more of this. I spoke with a close friend the other day; who I haven't seen for 8 months and although he was kind enough to let me pour my heart out. He couldn't help me. And has other priorities. I feel as though everyone thinks I'm ok.. because I've been through so much that I'll get through this. I just want it to end. I'm tired of struggling. Every. Single. Day. I don't want to live like this anymore.

Starting over and then she screws up again

replies: 6

Thread: Starting over and then she screws up again Post: Hi it seems to be a cycle that is never going to end. My son is so angry with me right now and although I have earned it, I still tried to message him to let him know I care only to be messaged by his gf to stop. Then I get into an argument with my brother who is supporting him. Don't get me wrong, I m happy to know he has some help with all of this but it's making me feel like I should have just finished what I started. The pain is excruciating to know how much he hates me and to know I'll lose my granddaughter too. How do I get past this ability I have to piss everyone off. Do I just stop talking to everyone?

55 Years Old And Feel My Life Is Over

replies: 17

I am almost 55 with a 17 year old son. He is addicted to gaming. I have now become addicted to alcohol as the debacles that ensue with his truancy/rubbish reports etc have made me suicidal and alcohol takes the edge off. I won't bore everyone and I can promise you that he has serious consequences. Which fall on deaf ears. This is actually about ME. How over the last 17 years since I left his violent useless father I have been crucified on a daily basis. By the ex, his family...but more so by my own SON. Who is incredibly spoilt and entitled. I am besides myself and I have no reason to continue as nothing will change! I begged his father to take him for a week but he took him for one day. I am ill...mentally and physically and I just don't know what to do anymore. Believe me... I have done EVERYTHING recommended/advised...all to no avail. I rang Lifeline on Friday as I was very close to finishing this horrible life . She managed to talk me down. I do not want to die. But I cannot live like this anymore. I have NOTHING to look forward to other than more of the same. I just want to sleep all the time as I have nice dreams...well maybe not always nice but they are far more interesting than this one dimension hell I call life. I have zero motivation to do anything. Other than drink as that takes a lot of this away. I almost hope I die from my bad habits as I can't suicide..... Anyone else have awful teenagers and no support...? To think of what I went through to have this monster....:( breaks my heart. And yes...I do love him....but I also hate him right now.

Tired of fighting

replies: 4

Keep getting kick in guts when trying to get help. Low iron and blood count = me and my GP figthing for 6 month's to get an iron infusion. Which nearly end up needing a blood transfusion. All the time my depression start going into full swing. My GP was hoping that with the iron and blood count back up the extreme fatigue and low movation would pick up they didn't. GP sent a referral to my local public mental health clinic. There reply was no and to find some in the private sector. I real have no engery to troll list and phone people to see if they have appointments and if the bulk bill. Cause I sure as hell have no money for gap payment or a full payments ( On DSP and have been since 1990 for mental health .) So everything falls back to me. I'm barely keeping afloat with chronic pain and Hypermobility spectrum disorder. ( HSD) and the depression part of my bipolar in full swing Have tried in the last two years to try and get NDIS to help with my mobility to get out. Was denied tried to appeal but with out a report from an OT with A functional assessment I don't have enough proof. Can't afford the report as it ranges from $5000 to $10,000. I'm on DSP so don't have the money, I have no family that could help as we no longer speak to other. ( My family only consist of my Mother and two Brother's.) I'm out of my own tools, out of spoons and out of engery. I'm not living I'm just existing and I'm over it I want to check out.

I wish I meant something

replies: 11

I wasn’t sure where to write this but I guess most things I feel are out of place anyway. I’ve been struggling a lot for a while . For a while I was avoiding my friends because my anxiety had overcome me and I quiet enjoyed being alone. For the past few weeks I guess I’ve been interacting a bit more but there’s so many stuff pumping through my brain that I can’t fully escape I can’t be better for them and I’ve let that full us apart. I found out yesterday one of my friends who I used to be incredibly close to and is such an amazingly wonderful being, is dating someone. I was incredibly happy that she is happier now and I had assumed she was dating this person for a while. But for some reason it also made me very upset, not because I liked her romantically but I guess I felt a jealous, not of her relationship but I saw her texting them and she looked so happy and beautiful and all I could think was “remember when your texts would make her smile” for some reason that got over me and I had an anxiety attack and a huge wave of depression resulting in some bad thoughts and relapse of self-harm also partly because I was misgendered a lot that night and feeling very dysphoric. I really hate myself and I feel like everyone hates me and everything I do is bad and ruins everything. I just wish I meant something to someone like I used to, I wish a was a friend people liked and smiled with and couldn’t wait to her a reply from but now I’m just there but I’m not really anywhere at all. What is wrong with me and how can I fix myself? please help me.

Content with life.

replies: 6

Does anyone else ever feel like their life has peaked already? I am in my late 30s. I have some amazing memories of stuff I have done. So many dreams I had of things I wanted to do with my life, I have crossed them off. Things that I can never better. I bought a house, sold it, bought a car, paid it off in half the time of the loan. I lived to travel. I would work hard, save up, go travel. Come back broke and start again. Always planning the next one. Covid has changed me, no travel, my long distance relationship ended with the girl I was madly in love with. Couldn't see her for 16 months and I was already struggling with that. Before I was always so happy in life and never had bad days. I never understood about mental health issues because I thought life was amazing. And more-so when I came back from overseas when I first got together with my girlfriend. I got lots of comments from people about how happy I was. Slowly it ground away at me and now it's rare I have a happy day. Just go to work, get paid. Get tired, go home and sleep... I put that fake persona on for work pretending I am always in a great mood to serve customers.... All For what? I'm not taking the vaccine, too many reactions and people getting sick from it... which aren't being reported, only "it's good take it everyone go get it" I don't trust the government and the forcing of people to take it to keep jobs etc. It isn't tested enough for me. If everyone getting it is still alive in 1 or 2 years then I might consider it.... But I don't know if I want to stick around that long. I'm currently on a medical exemption of 6 months. So I can work and travel for 6 months. I am saving money. After it ends I probably can't work, can't travel so won't have much left. Will have to go back to my parents house and just be a burdon on them because I can't work and have my own place. And don't really want to because they were against the vaccine too but then suddenly changed and went and got it like they were brainwashed into it. Now are trying to tell me to get it so it want be a comfortable place to live anyway I have done so many great things and don't really have any further plans for my life than maybe get married. But that also isn't seeming likely. I am starting to feel like it might be better to just end it on my terms instead of getting old and slowly falling apart. I am happy with my past and I am content with my life. Still 6 months to try and do a few more things! After that who knows

Would you bother living if you were like me?

replies: 3

-Extremely ugly, I have never had a relationship, i have been called ugly multiple times and girls have said 'ew' to me. I'm genetically inferior, I have low testosterone, a big forehead, rounded face, inability to grow facial hair or muscle no matter how well I work out, skinny and feminine, all traits which are unattractive for women. -Low intelligence, probably the lowest scoring in some of my classes, I'm ashamed to even show up to school every day because of how stupid I am, It's embarrassing to have people laugh at you because of how stupid you are, and yet you have to play along to not be made fun of for being sensitive. This may only be two reasons, but tens of reasons spur from each, with a few dictated previously. With these two problems, I will never be successful in life, and will never be loved by anyone. I'm forever chasing a career made for people twice my IQ. I can't take being rejected anymore, it's humiliating and makes me truly realise how disgusting I am, and how ashamed of myself I should be. I want someone in this world to appreciate me for who I am, but every girl is always too good for me. They always go for men that are better than me in every perceivable way. I don't blame them, I would do it too if were them. It just hurts so bad - worse than any physical pain - when I see a woman I love with another man, while being disgusted by me. I would be ashamed and embarrassed to be seen in public with me as a partner. I just wish I wasn't a disgusting sub-human. I wish i was good looking and smart enough to be successful and loved by someone. The thought of someone appreciating me or even holding my hand makes me so excited until I realise it will never happen. What is the point of a life without success and love? I'm sick of punishing and torturing myself because I deserve it. I'm sick of crying myself to sleep. I'm sick of seeing the disgusting thing I have to call my body in the mirror. I wish assisted suicide was given to people with lives not living. I'm too afraid to kill myself. Every time I tried I woke back up or was too scared to do it. No amount of anti-depressants can make me smart and good looking, which is why I will never take them again. They do nothing. I can't be fixed. I have to choose between living a meaningless existence as an ugly, stupid sorry-excuse of a human being, if you can even call me that. Is suicide the answer in my case when I already know my future won't get better due to things I can't change?

'Attention Seeker'

replies: 12

Hi, this feels weird. I wanted to share this somewhere, but figured that sharing it online, on a platform like Instagram where people are less likely to understand, and people know who I am is a bad idea. This year hasn't been great for me. In fact, this year has been bad, for a number of reasons. In a course of about 9 months I have attempted suicide, self-harmed, had my parents lose all trust in me, went from a friend-group of 14 to 0, been diagnosed with severe depression, severe anxiety and a mild stress disorder, and have had to leave school due to an extreme amount of bullying. I really wish I could fit the whole story in, but there's A LOT. Some of this might not make sense due to lack of backstory, but I get the main point across so it's okay. An 'Attention Seeker' is a name I've become quite used to being called in these last 9 months. My best friend at the time, who I opened up to after my suicide attempt was the person who started this. She could not understand why she wasn't allowed to tell anyone about it, yet I was. The fact that I told my mum to take me to hospital after an overdose of pills because I suddenly regretted what I had done was enough for her to say that it was an attention thing. I had realised after an hour and a half that I didn't want to die. I just wanted to escape the pain. It destroyed me. I felt physically sick hearing that from my 'best friend'. It was mentioned to me at school one day, and when I went to speak to the school psych, she asked me if I had actually attempted for attention. Is this really the help I get? This person spread around to everyone that I had attempted suicide for attention. Not long after this, one girl made my life a living hell. She made up rumors. She told everyone that I faked mental issues. When I reported her to the head of upper school, he said he didn't understand why I was upset. Boys in my class asked me if I was an attention seeker. Even people like one of my mum's friend called me an attention seeker. EVERYONE called me an attention seeker. It's sickening. But, I know I'm not an attention seeker. I have heard it so much that even if I started to believe it at one point. But I'm not. Only I know how I'm feeling, and the reason I act the way I do. I've tried getting my point across to these people, but it has been pointless. And just like me, you're not an attention seeker because of what you're going through. Please don't believe it. Only YOU truly know how you're feeling.

Struggling to keep moving forward

replies: 4

Hi all, I’m new to this forum, but really need somewhere to go to. I’m at a point in my life where I don’t want to keep moving forward. I’m 26 and should be enjoying my life with my partner, friends and family. For the last 3 months all I have wanted to do is stay away from everyone, put on a brave face at work and pretend like nothing is wrong. Now I feel it’s built up to the point where I just don’t care about my own life anymore. I have a lot of money stress and work stress that has pushed me into a huge hole. I struggle everyday now to find any joy or happiness in anything, I feel like I’m pretending constantly and it’s exhausting. I don’t know how to get out of this. I don’t want to hurt the ones I love by taking my own life, but I’ve lost all hope and motivation to keep going.

Feeling Down and Alone

replies: 2

Hello, Lately I have been feeling so alone and like I am wondering through life by myself. It makes me feel as if I could disappear and nobody would notice or care that much, which is when I start to think negative thoughts. I know it isn’t the answer but my mind always goes there and it is so hard to pick myself back up again once I am down the rabbit hole. I was in a very toxic relationship, which ended a few years ago, but I lost all my friends during the process. I have a hard time making friends so I don’t currently have any that I can turn to. My husband tries to help, but he doesn’t understand and eventually just gets frustrated with me. My sister is having her first baby and that is all my family care about . Nothing else matters but the baby, and I’m so happy for her, but I feel like she is leaving me behind and moving on with her own seperate family. It is so hard dealing with something like this and not having a support system. I feel selfish asking for help as my family have their own lives. I just wish I had people to turn too.

Do you have a safety plan? replies: 97

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

Sick and tired of being sick replies: 207

Starting over and then she screws up again replies: 6

55 Years Old And Feel My Life Is Over replies: 17

Tired of fighting replies: 4

I wish I meant something replies: 11

Content with life. replies: 6

Would you bother living if you were like me? replies: 3

'Attention Seeker' replies: 12

Struggling to keep moving forward replies: 4

Feeling Down and Alone replies: 2