Whatever thoughts you are having or however bad you are feeling right now, know that you are not alone. Thinking about taking one’s own life is common if you are dealing with depression. Most depressed people are visited by suicidal thoughts at some point in their lives. Feeling suicidal, however, doesn’t mean that you have to put your thoughts into action. It could be that you have more pain than you can cope with.
On a positive note, your life changes as well as your feelings. With time and proper support, you can overcome your problems and let go of your suicidal thoughts and feelings. Even if the future is not clear, hope will clear all your uncertainties.
Factors That Push a Person to Take One’s Own Life
A person, as unique as an individual can be, deals with emotional pain on his or her own different way. The ability of each and every single human being to cope with pain differs from one person to another. While this is mostly true, there are common causes that may lead a person to experience suicidal thoughts and feelings.
Suicide Is the Only Option
When you are unable to think or see a solution to ease your pain, suicide can seem like the only option you have. The painful emotions that you are feeling as of the moment can distort your thinking, which is why it’s impossible for you to come up with other possible solutions or reach out to those who can offer support.
Suicidal Crisis Is Almost Always Temporary
Although your pain and unhappiness may seem impossible to end, you must take into account that crisis is usually temporary. You can find solutions, your feelings will change, unexpected positive events will happen in your life and you will eventually see the light. You must bear in your mind that suicide is a permanent solution to your temporary problems. Give yourself the time to heal and the pain to subside.
Even Unsolvable Problems Have Solutions
Mental health conditions such as depression, bipolar disorder, and schizophrenia can be treated. With changes in lifestyle and participation in both individuals and group treatment, you will be able to find a way to solve your problems, far different than suicide. People who seek help can slowly recover.
Ways to Heal After a Loved One’s Suicide
Death by suicide is an emotionally devastating and tragic event. It can even trigger an anchor of complicated and puzzling emotions. That’s why it is important to use helpful and healthy coping strategies to heal and accept the situation. Whether you are coping with the loss of someone dear to you or helping someone navigate a loss, the following method can help.
Brace for Strong Emotions
A loved one’s death by suicide can trigger powerful emotions. At first, emotional numbness might set in. Then, you’ll be angry with them for leaving you or the other way around — you’ll get angry with yourself for missing out clues about their suicidal intentions, which will then turn into guilt. You will recall “what ifs” and “should haves” situations in your mind and you’ll blame yourself for their death.
Sooner or later, the emotions will grow more intense if not dealt with accordingly. When you are facing the death of a loved one, know that you are not alone.
Take Up Healthy Coping Strategies
The aftermath of a death by suicide is both physically and emotionally draining. As you work your way out of grief, you should also protect your own well-being.
Reach out to people for support. Keep in touch with your family, friends, and other trusted people for comfort, understanding, and healing. Surround yourself with people who listen when you need to talk and offer a shoulder to lean on when you’d rather be silent.
Grieve in a way that you think is right for you, not necessarily what someone else tells you. If you find it too difficult and painful to visit your loved one’s gravesite or discuss the details of your loved one’s death, don’t force yourself. Wait until you are ready. Losing someone to suicide is a terrible blow, and healing should take place at its own pace. Sometimes, it doesn’t happen in a straight line.
Seek Professional Help
If your anguish or physical problem becomes extreme or unrelenting, seek help from a trusted mental health provider. Going to suicide prevention centers in Australia is important, especially when you think you might be depressed or you have recurring thoughts of suicide. If your grief is left unresolved, it can turn into complicated grief, where unpleasant emotions are so long-lasting and intense that you have trouble resuming your own life.
Look Towards the Future with a Sense of Peace
The outcome of suicide might make you feel like you can’t move on or that you might never enjoy life again. In reality, you might always wonder why it happened — and reminders might trigger painful feelings even years later. Read some books on suicidal behavior and signs and eventually, you’ll understand why certain things happened, you’ll spread awareness, and the raw intensity of your grief will fade.
Knowing and understanding the complicated nature of suicide and how to cope with grief can help you find peace and healing, whilst honoring the memory of your loved one.
Things to Do to Fight Suicidal Thoughts
Understanding and dealing with suicidal thoughts can be very difficult. Sometimes, suicidal thoughts can be fleeting, but most of the time, they can be powerful urges or fantasies that promise relief from seemingly unbearable torment. Fortunately, you can do something to overcome suicidal thoughts. Follow these steps and you’ll move away from hurting yourself and lead towards recovery:
Keep Yourself Away from Danger
Suicidal thoughts can hit you real hard when you’re situated in a potentially dangerous area or place of activity. When this happens, remove yourself from the area or situation. In such a way, you will not be tempted to use things, such as pills, knives, and guns, that can potentially harm or hurt yourself. Going somewhere else for a while or asking your family or friend to help you will bring you to a safer environment.
Avoid Taking Drugs and Alcohol
Although it’s tempting to hide from the pain by using drugs and alcohol, this action is most definitely a bad idea. Suicidal thoughts can be intensified when you take drugs or alcohol. Moreover, drugs and alcohol may alleviate your inhibitions, making you more likely to act on your feelings.
It is important that you avoid taking or using nonprescribed drugs or alcohol when you are thinking about suicide.
Reach Out
Even if you think that your thoughts are not that serious, opening up to someone is a good habit to get into. Often, it can be a great help just having someone to whom you can share your thoughts and feelings. Surround yourself with people who truly care about you because they will help you right after knowing what’s going on.
Call for suicide prevention hotlines in Australia and tell them that you are going through a rough time and you need their support. Reaching out to them is at the tip of your fingertips.
Read Helpful Books for Suicide Prevention
If you are one of hundreds of thousands of people who are living with mental illness and have intrusive thoughts, you probably spend a lot of time feeling helpless and hopeless. Whilst everyone’s state is unique and different, each and every single one of you shares a common ground — you will recover and be healed.
While waiting for any help to arrive, try to open books on suicidal behavior. Books like Coping With Suicide will help you know the underlying roots of suicide. You will also be provided with the information you need to deal with depression and anxiety. Most importantly, you will better understand yourself and the people around you.
No matter the heaviness in your heart and the weight of the pain you are going through right now, always remember that you are not alone. Many people have had suicidal thoughts at some points in their lives. But where are they now? They’ve found their way out of the darkness. Surely, you’ll find that way, too.