Suicidal thoughts and self-harm

This space discusses suicide and self-harm. Consider limiting the time you spend here. To use the section safely, read the pinned discussion.

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Pinned discussions

BeyondBlue Welcome to the Suicide and Self-Harm Section
  • replies: 0

Hi there, Welcome to the Suicide and Self-Harm section of the Beyond Blue Forums. Life gets pretty hard sometimes, and many people here on the Forums have had times where they have thought about harming themselves or ending their life. This can be a ... View more

Hi there, Welcome to the Suicide and Self-Harm section of the Beyond Blue Forums. Life gets pretty hard sometimes, and many people here on the Forums have had times where they have thought about harming themselves or ending their life. This can be a deeply distressing experience, and this section is here to support members who have had these experiences. This section is not a crisis support service. If you are in crisis or need immediate help, assistance is not available via these Forums. Please call: Suicide Call Back Service on 1300 659 467 (24/7) Lifeline on 13 11 14 (24/7) If it is an emergency, contact emergency services on 000. This is a place to share where you are at, seek ideas for support 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. 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 the 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. If after a period of time you no longer wish others to engage in the discussion you have started, please use the 'Report Post' button and request the discussion be locked to prevent any further replies. Thank you for being here, we're glad you're here. Treat yourself gently as you read through this section. Beyond Blue

Sophie_M 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 wi... View more

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

All discussions

AlostPosie Looser, Failure, Unworthy
  • replies: 2

Hi, Im feeling pretty shit atm. I am 51 I have 3 adult kids and been married 27 years. I am from a balkan family and so is my husband. We are old school and our upbrining is the balkan way. I am not one who is very out spoken and I dont argue cause I... View more

Hi, Im feeling pretty shit atm. I am 51 I have 3 adult kids and been married 27 years. I am from a balkan family and so is my husband. We are old school and our upbrining is the balkan way. I am not one who is very out spoken and I dont argue cause I dont know how to, I dont stick up for myself which has to do with my father always telling me that i was stupid and he even told me that I wasnt beautiful at the age of 18, he was trying to convince me to marry an import (25) as I will never find anyone. Anyway that all happened and then he hit me and I threw him out, (but he handled me and i said No but he never accepted No....so fast forward I am 51& I have been married for a long time but during my first pregnancy I think I left hubby like 6 times and over the years I have left many times but always have come back. Hubby was an ass and has been for a long time only recently perhaps last 2 years he has changed, I believe that he is a narcissist but I also believe I am weak, I cant stand up for my self over the years he has told me Im stupid over the years, he is on the disability pension so I am the bread winner of the family and for most of the last 20 years i have been as he was in a car accident. We live on rent as 14 years ago we lost our house due to bad business decisions and my husband blames me that i made mistakes. actually everything that goes the wrong way has always been my fault he has never accepted blame for anything. My kids can finally see how he has treated me but like i said just lately he and i have been great. We had pups and on my watch one of the pups died, I apologised as i didnt do anything and he is so angry at me, I told him this is why I dont look after pets, I am a failure cause everything i do in life goes to shit. I hate myself and I am a total looser I hate me. I just want cry all the time i just want to go to my friend house and sleep at her house. I work literally 3 doors down from where I live (Disability worker) I dont want to live anymore, Our relationship with our son is shit, My daughter is lying about what boy she is dating as her dad has rules of who she can date, I dont agree with my husband in so many ways that it causes arguments, every time I disagree with him, he says i am stupid and i answer like a `12 year old I say to him there is nothing no ones says it is stupid just a different opinion. I dont know if to leave I deeply love him but its always been the way he says. There is so much more to this marriage story i dont have enough room to write about it. I want to leave but feel sorry for him I want to leave but how would i live everything is in my name, rent, mobiles, electricity EVERYTHING I would feel bad because he wouldnt be able to survive without me.....:(

Giggyy scared to move back to old house where I attempted
  • replies: 1

hi, i attempted in my old house in my bedroom. after moving house i felt a lot safer as it was less easy/accessible to hurt myself - but we are moving back soon and i get badly triggered in that room, i am very worried that this may lead to a relapse... View more

hi, i attempted in my old house in my bedroom. after moving house i felt a lot safer as it was less easy/accessible to hurt myself - but we are moving back soon and i get badly triggered in that room, i am very worried that this may lead to a relapse how can i cope with this ??

F_55 I thought I’d be dead
  • replies: 9

Hi I don’t know what I’m doing. Sometimes I’m fine or I seem fine and it seems so silly to me to want to end things. But is it a lie? Am I fooling myself or pretending? Sometimes nothing feels real and then it comes flooding back, this happens legiti... View more

Hi I don’t know what I’m doing. Sometimes I’m fine or I seem fine and it seems so silly to me to want to end things. But is it a lie? Am I fooling myself or pretending? Sometimes nothing feels real and then it comes flooding back, this happens legitimately daily. Up and down like a yo-yo and I’m just so tired of fighting and feeling like crap. Feeling so alone and worthless, feeling that I am only a burden on people. Everything is hard and nothing ever stops the whirlpool from dragging me down again. And I swear, each time it gets harder to fight my way out of it. I feel like this the right choice for me. I’m fairly young but I’ve lived my life. I’ve loved, I’ve lost. I’ve had ups and downs. I’m full of a lifetimes worth of experiences and I’ve just come to my end is all. We all have to go sometime and I consider myself lucky to be able to choose when and how and leave some final words behind. There’s so many people who never even get that opportunity and I really just want to get off this merry-go-round.

jumpyjellyfish- so tired of everything
  • replies: 20

i haven't been on here for a while but been struggling a lot recently. ive been pretty much forced into recovery from an ed which is causing me a lot of stress and everything just feels really hopeless. i reach out the start of last year and started ... View more

i haven't been on here for a while but been struggling a lot recently. ive been pretty much forced into recovery from an ed which is causing me a lot of stress and everything just feels really hopeless. i reach out the start of last year and started going to therapy, it took me a while to open up but when i finally told my psychologist about my ed behaviours i got referred to somewhere else because she didn't treat eds. i still really wish i could just go back and see her because she actually helped me. where i got referred didn't help, was doing fbt there (cymhs, I'm under 18) and finally got offered individual therapy but then my treatment team there suggested i go on medication for anxiety depression and OCD (OCD which literally got 100 times worse after I stopped seeing my first psychologist). and my parents are against medication so now im stuck seeing a third different support person who I don't click with and don't want to talk to. all of this is making it really hard to abstain from self harming because I just feel so consistently overwhelmed with anxiety and intrusive thoughts and everything just feels like too much. ive also been feeling a lot more suicidal than i was because of all the stress. im safe, but the thoughts do get overwhelming when they steer in the direction of ways i could hurt myself. its not like i think i would even act on them ever really, i still hate the thoughts nonetheless tho. i wish i could feel better but i feel hopeless.

Annewithan-e Feeling like a terrible person
  • replies: 17

So I’m not in a great place. I’m fortunate to have a great psychologist. I have been working with her for a fair while now. I feel like I trust her but I’m still incredibly stuck, and freeze and space out in sessions. I have managed to discuss some t... View more

So I’m not in a great place. I’m fortunate to have a great psychologist. I have been working with her for a fair while now. I feel like I trust her but I’m still incredibly stuck, and freeze and space out in sessions. I have managed to discuss some things but on the whole I feel like a complete failure. I don’t trust myself or my own thoughts, and I feel like a hypochondriac or attention seeking drama queen. I think I’m making things up, or dramatizing it. I emailed and said as much last night. That I’m a bad person and I don’t deserve help. Its just that things aren’t clear or keep changing in my mind, and it was all so long ago - I never said anything, I excelled in so many areas, I was fine for so long, it just doesn’t make sense. now I’m in this spiral of what a horrible human being I am for acting like a victim and I just want to disappear.

Guest_2350 Struggling to update my safety plan
  • replies: 5

Hi, I lost my post I’ve worked through my suicide prevention plan for a few years and about 6mths ago I felt that I have it under control. Now my life I changing rapidly and I don’t have my safe spaces, safe persons etc. I mover too far away, and I s... View more

Hi, I lost my post I’ve worked through my suicide prevention plan for a few years and about 6mths ago I felt that I have it under control. Now my life I changing rapidly and I don’t have my safe spaces, safe persons etc. I mover too far away, and I still don’t know where I’ll I’ll be

Gem17 Interactions with health professionals
  • replies: 23

I've recently had some negative interactions with health professionals, mostly in the emergency department of the hospital, related to my mental health and specifically around SH. These have left me feeling quite traumatised. I am doing better now as... View more

I've recently had some negative interactions with health professionals, mostly in the emergency department of the hospital, related to my mental health and specifically around SH. These have left me feeling quite traumatised. I am doing better now as I have spoken to my psychologist about these experiences but I am wondering if anyone else has had these experiences? It was quite upsetting because it took a lot of courage to seek help when I needed it and to be that vulnerable and then made to feel like a waste of time and space was hard.

Candy84 School holidays and feel so depressed having no mum friends
  • replies: 2

Hi everyone, im finding these school holidays so isolating and lonely. Not sure if it’s because we have spent most of the last 2 years in lockdown and this adds to it or not. I’ve got 2 autistic children and looks like my 1 year old also has autism s... View more

Hi everyone, im finding these school holidays so isolating and lonely. Not sure if it’s because we have spent most of the last 2 years in lockdown and this adds to it or not. I’ve got 2 autistic children and looks like my 1 year old also has autism so we can’t leave the house so easily. We have no backyard as we moved into our new build house, so we are essentially stuck inside 4 walls all day everyday. My husband works long hours, or works away or nightshift with his own business. It makes for some super long days just watching the clock. It’s not so simple as going for a walk or a bike ride or a playground as we need both parents here to help. my father passed away from a cancer battle almost a year ago and my dog also passed around the same time. These deaths along with the birth of my daughter all around the same time made me realise I essentially have no friends. No one really cares. I totally understand, we can’t attend birthday parties, we try and usually have to leave early as the anxiety is too much for the kids, can’t do play dates with lots of kids even play dates in our home is hard. I can’t ever catch up with just the mums for a kid free night as my husband is always working. so I totally get and can understand why I can never make proper friendships. But jeez it’s lonely. it’s school holidays once again and here we are with not a single play date request for either child. Look I get why but I’m also so sad for them. They are so beautiful and wish they had friends that understood them and wish I did too. I’m literally going bat shit crazy sitting inside 4 walls all day long. Think I’m suicidal, I’d never do anything coz if I did there would be no one to look after my kids, I also can’t get help at an inpatient facility as again no one to help. My mum lives in the same suburb but I can tell her I feel this way as she would message everyone in her phone to tell and I can’t ask her for help with the kids as she whinges that they will mess up her house or she is exhausted or she loves to give me a play by play of autistic behaviours she has observed. I just feel so exhausted and depleted. I feel so lonely and like I don’t fit in anywhere. I’m also trying to find a new school for our kids as the current one is not suitable and we feel maybe a complete new move would be best and start fresh down the beach somewhere. It’s just all a bit much right now and I feel so lonely and so depressed. not even sure any of this made sense.

BobbyOz Suicidal and Anxious
  • replies: 1

So, I’m 20 years old and dealing with some sort of eating disorder, every time I put food in my mouth, I feel sick. I’m not trying to lose weight but now I’m extremely underweight, the doctor’s say its psychological maybe ARFID. I tried to see a hypn... View more

So, I’m 20 years old and dealing with some sort of eating disorder, every time I put food in my mouth, I feel sick. I’m not trying to lose weight but now I’m extremely underweight, the doctor’s say its psychological maybe ARFID. I tried to see a hypnotherapist, but they cancelled my appointment that I had been waiting months for. I’m also failing University and in massive debt with no income, I study all the time, but I still fail the subjects I can’t tell my parents about it. I’m supposed to be a genius I got A’s in school, but I got 20% on my last exam even though I answered all the questions. I suffer from anxiety and get panic attacks all the time in public, I try breathing slowly but it never works. I’ve never had a girlfriend in my life and I’m 20. For these 5 reasons (eating disorder, failing uni, broke, panic attacks and loneliness) I get suicidal thoughts every day. When I’m trying to go to sleep, I spend 30 minutes thinking about suicide. I’m agnostic but I hope there’s an afterlife because I won’t be around much longer at this rate. This is a copy and paste so I don’t have to rewrite everything on each site I use.

Trina_M Hating my life
  • replies: 3

I’m new to BB. I just hate everything. I’m depressed still and have no friends and no SO and can’t even get a date (been using online dating for two years and virtually nothing came out of it except one relationship which lasted only two months as he... View more

I’m new to BB. I just hate everything. I’m depressed still and have no friends and no SO and can’t even get a date (been using online dating for two years and virtually nothing came out of it except one relationship which lasted only two months as he had anger issues. I just want to meet a guy who is the rigs kind of man for me and be a Mum. The idea of not achieving these things makes me feel like I’ll not want to go on once that time comes. I am now 40 years old. I’m having a lot of suicidal ideation over this, but also over other things like having depression, several anxiety disorders, Complex PTSD, being socially Isolated and having no friends and feeling apathetic most of the time. I also have Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder (PMDD) symptoms at the moment which makes everything worse. I don’t really see the point in living. I just can’t find meaning in my life. Oh, I’m new to BB. Can anyone relate a lot to my post? Thanks in advance, and best of luck to everyone on these forums. Trina