Suicidal thoughts and self-harm

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Do you have a safety plan?

replies: 96

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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stress induced suicidal thoughts

replies: 1

hi everyone,i've been having rlly bad suicidal thoughts recently that i believe are stress induced. i think the main contributor to this stress is my university workload. i dont even like the course im currently doing yet i still continue to do it because i know that if i drop out, my parents will hate me for it and my relatives will judge me for it. i cant seem to cope with the workload or meet deadlines and ive literally been so stressed out of my mind that i cant seem to find a balance between uni and work. ive also noticed that im constantly self-loathing, growing distant with my family, stressing about the future and ive been bottling up all my emotions that the only time i 'feel' is when i breakdown. im too scared to open up to my family, specifically my parents because i hate breaking down in front of them and most of the time, they don't understand me or the personal issues i face. i genuinely haven't been seeing the purpose in living anymore and i feel like these suicidal thoughts are eating me from the inside out.

Not sure how to feel anymore about my brother?

replies: 13

Ok guys I’m gonna have to say this seemingly bluntly because we have a word count limit and I need to explain this as best I can. years ago my parents became terminally ill and I was staying at home with them to care. Six years have gone by and I have struggled with picking my life back up. I have a brother who lives in another country and was not there for my parents ilness and decline accept for at the end of my dads life so he has no idea what I went through with them. I also struggled with things before they got sick including being su*cidal (he doesn’t know about the su*cidal). Anyway I had a recent breakdown and just got off the phone with him and said I am struggling again with my depression. He basically told me that I need to stop focusing on that and that I need to take action in my life to change it and I explained that the depression is debilitating it stops me from doing that and he said well you just have to try hard. He said what would mum and dad say to you right now and I said that they want me to be happy and he said no, they wouldn’t say that. They aren’t happy with what you’re doing right now. They want you get your life back on track. Then I said it’s not just me dealing with everything that happened with mum and dad it’s things before that I’ve been through a lot and he said what the bullying at school and your old work stuff? That’s in the past why are you going on about that that’s silly you need to be focusing on the future. That stuff is irrelevant now. I feel hurt. I know my brother loves me but.. that is mean things to say right? He always makes me feel bad.

Lost on how to help

replies: 1

Hi everyone, I’m lost on ways to help my boyfriend, he has been telling me he is feeling suicidal and I honestly, other than being there for him,I am not sure in ways I can help. We are 22 years old and I’m not allowed to stay at his place much because his parents won’t let us sleep over (we still live at home) I’m hoping to move out but money wise don’t think it will happen anytime soon. He can stay at my house as much as he likes but my home life is not great and I live with toxic people so it’s not a comfortable environment. He has booked psychologist appointments but he says they don’t help him. I’ve told some of his close family what is going on but they just don’t seem to understand the full extent and how serious everything is. I’m scared he’s going to hurt himself. He struggles with OCD and it takes over his life, does anyone know of any resources I can pass onto him? Or how else I can supportthanks

I can’t do this

replies: 2

I just can’t do this anymore. I can’t live day by day feeling like this. There is no other way out of this!!!!

How to stop thoughts

replies: 2

We've got a chronically ill daughter. The situation has taken a huge toll on our family life as well as on my mental health. I had an episode where I was contemplating ending my life in that moment, that thought is there again. I feel like I'm losing my mind... It's like a voice in the back of my head. How do I shut it up? -I'm seeing a therapist and started medication a week ago.

Life sucks

replies: 1

Life’s truly a bummer., I can’t seem to master the art of enjoying life., today I woke up feeling like crap. I feel that I got nothing to look forward to… it just seems like no matter what and how many good days I have it always gets overshadowed By the bad days… I’m so lost and confused right now that it’s making me feel overwhelmed and anxious… i wish I can get out of this and not get stuck for awhile…

I dont know.

replies: 1

I feel like harming at my school almost every girl does and i feel invalid its like a space where i feel alone but better than at home also i just an s9 confused right now i wish i knew how to hadle all of this

Contacting too many times?

replies: 4

Can you contact the crisis services too many times? I feel guilty for wanting/needing to talk to them as much as I have in the past few days. Last night I talked about my experiences with suicide and it was the first time I actually felt I could fully open up. But I feel like I need to be telling myself to stop it’s not fair on others who also need the services and I feel like im being selfish.

For the first time in my life, I had suicidal thoughts

replies: 1

Hi Everyone,I'm new to the forum and looking to speak with other people going through a similar situation or who may be able to offer advice. I separated from my wife in October 2021, I left a few times and stayed with my dad for a few days but always returned home. The "spark" between us was gone and we weren't really talking much. I was happy to leave and move in with my dad until I could find a more permanent solution. We have 2 beautiful daughters together. We had a conversation (not an argument) one night where she asked if I was there for her or just for the kids. I was honest and said that I was there 70% for the kids and 30% for her. She was obviously not happy with this and she left the house. The next morning I was confronted by the police and our home with an IVO against me. She claimed I was financially controlling and a whole heap of other nonsense. The next 12 months would cost me over 100k in legal fees to see my children, along with being slapped with a community corrections order because she messaged me about the kids a few times and I was silly enough to reply. I lost my family business And now everything is finally coming to an end, she won't sign the divorce. I just struggle each day to find the motivation to go on. If I didn't see my girls I know I probably would have ended my life. I've been on anti depressants since I was in my early teens for panic attacks, but I've never felt this depressed before. I see a psychologist regularly and I'm going to raise this with her. But just wanted to see if anyone out there can relate.

Thoughts on Voices?

replies: 12

I am wondering what everybody’s thoughts are on what is more and less common in regards to voices in the head? I am going to word this as sensitively as I can but I do apologise if I offend anybody as that is not my intent. I have them still only sometimes, but I used to have them frequently. My voices are myself but speaking to me I guess like a bad friend or the devil on the shoulder. I’m posting this here because they would mostly occur when I was having su*cidal thoughts. An example being “stop being a coward. You know this is what you want”…etc. Would you say this is more or less common? I’m trying to determine if these “voices” so-to-speak are a cause for concern? When I think about what I would consider voices that would be concerning on a mental health level I think of hearing voices that sound unfamiliar as in, not like me? Whilst I do think I have experienced voices that say things I might not normally say to myself, I still hear themin my voice as an internal thought and not sounding like something external.

Do you have a safety plan? replies: 96

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

stress induced suicidal thoughts replies: 1

Not sure how to feel anymore about my brother? replies: 13

Lost on how to help replies: 1

I can’t do this replies: 2

How to stop thoughts replies: 2

Life sucks replies: 1

I dont know. replies: 1

Contacting too many times? replies: 4

For the first time in my life, I had suicidal thoughts replies: 1

Thoughts on Voices? replies: 12