Suicide is preventable…let’s plan for that
“Nobody wants to talk about suicide. The trouble is that when suicide happens everyone is talking about it.”
How to help suicide prevention
- One of the simplest and most effective ways to prevent suicide is by not being too scared to mention it. The stigma and taboo surrounding suicide is one the biggest barriers to the person with thoughts feeling that this is something they can talk about.
- Get involved! There are many levels that you can help prevent suicide. Start by being informed. There are courses available to help you identify the possible “invitations” that people with thoughts give that could mean they are thinking about suicide. Knowing what these are can change how you feel about asking someone openly and directly if they are thinking about suicide. See the training page for details.
- Speak openly and directly about suicide. Yes, people who don’t know how important this is will think that you are strange however what they don’t know is that by talking openly you are contributing to lessening the stigma around suicide.
- Arrange a workplace training for the you and the people you work with to be informed about recognising someone who may be “unconsciously” asking for help about thoughts of suicide and know what to do in return.
- Think who you would talk to in the event of having thoughts of suicide now so that if you ever experience them you know who to talk to. Encourage anyone you know to do the same.
If you feel overwhelming feelings and don’t know what they are and what you can do about them then read on. Feelings have a tendency to dictate how you behave and can dominate your thinking and ultimately affect the decisions and choices you make. In an attempt to manage these feelings you can start to do things that make you feel better in the short term however ultimately this can result in your going deeper and deeper into the problem.
Emotional pain can result in indulging in things to make you feel better. Things like drinking too much, smoking, drugs, over/under eating as well as relying on prescribed medication to maintain the status quo. You can then begin to notice the effects of this behaviour, for example, being overweight, not being able to get to work on time due to sleeplessness or having a hangover. The focus then becomes these issues rather than the underlying emotion.
If there is something that is causing you emotional pain then you can start avoiding situations that create the feelings inside you. Again this is all short term relief quickly followed by the realisation that things are not the way you want them to be and a sense of hopelessness can set in.
When things get overwhelming the feelings can intensify making everything seem hopeless. Undoubtedly a visit to the doctor is certainly recommended. If you find that thoughts of suicide are beginning to creep in then it is essential that you do something about that. To help deal effectively with suicidal thoughts it is essential to deal with the emotional pain lying underneath the thoughts. I can help with that.
My job is to help you change your feelings, increase your capacity to deal with what is causing the feelings and lead you towards moving on from this situation with the focus being on working collaboratively with you to help ensure your safety through safety planning, setting goals and getting on with change work.
I see clients on an individual basis to create lasting change through using a variety of techniques to enable change in the shortest period of time and underpinning this with the focus on safety and increasing capacity to deal with the issues being experienced.
Feelings can be overwhelming so whatever your situation is I would like to take the mystery and power away from the feelings and quite literally bring them down to size to allow you to live the life you want.
I have a wide variety of tools at my disposal and your unique experience will dictate which ones are used. What I can tell you is that you don’t need to be putting up with life the way it is.
To book a free 15 minute slot with me to discuss recovery and growth packages click on the booking diary below.