Guidelines for Handling Suicidal Thoughts

Many anxiety sufferers express suicidal thoughts on anxiety forums, and even many more keep them secret, too afraid of how others might react should they hear any such talk. This article will help the reader to know what to do in varying situations involving suicidal thoughts and ideation (see also Identifying a Crisis for additional details on this and similar subject matter).

The first rule to follow when considering the topic of suicide is that if one is even having the thought of committing suicide, but still is not to the point where they are planning it or are seriously considering it as an option, this is a red flag that one is having a hard time in life and should seek counseling pronto. One does not have to pick up the phone and call the suicide hot line in the next minute, but only people who have very low self-esteem and generally a very miserable lifestyle consider suicide, and it is a definite sign that some work needs to be done. The good news is that counselors who learn that a client is having suicidal thoughts encourage the client to express his or her thoughts and will help the client to learn what steps need to be taken in order to help them build a healthy level of self-esteem. When a person has a healthy level of self-esteem, he or she feels that his or her life is valuable and that he or she can bring great good to others and that others love him or her. Those with an unhealthy, or low, level of self-esteem, feel the opposite, and counseling can be a very useful option in helping a person to overcome low self-esteem and instead have healthy self-esteem.

Next, there are people who are seriously considering suicide. They have a plan and flirt with carrying it out. In fact, they may carry it out in their minds over and over, fantasizing about how others might react and how suicide will solve the problem of their having to live a miserable existence. These people are not necessarily going to commit suicide in the next instant, but they feel they have good reason to, and if they happened to have a particularly bad day, they might actually go through with it. People who have a plan and think about committing suicide regularly but hold themselves back from actually doing it should immediately seek help. The best option, by far, for someone who finds themselves thinking these things is to call the local suicide hot line immediately. If that is too intimidating, one should talk about these feelings to a trusted friend or family member.

Finally, there are people who are on the verge of committing suicide. To themselves, they think that they are simply a collection of problems. Everyone hates them or pushes them aside, and life just seems too painful to bear any longer. These people have a well-established plan and are just digging up the courage to carry it out. In fact, some of these people, rather than calling the local suicide hot line for help, will attempt suicide without intending to really finish the act; this is done as a desperate cry for help because all other options seemed to be exhausted. This person might consider having a few drinks and taking some sleeping pills, or perhaps instead he or she might consider taking too much of a prescription medication. These people, again, need to call a suicide hot line immediately or talk to a trusted friend or family member. Something is not right and needs to be fixed.

The bottom line is that people who are thinking about committing suicide or who are planning to do it imminently have lead lives filled with hurt and very little hope or encouragement from others. They have very legitimate reasons to be considering suicide because they have experienced only the negative and rough end of life. Sometimes, people are very judgmental towards those who are considering suicide and accuse the suicidal of being "selfish" or "irrational." These people fail to understand the life of a suicidal person and are only making the suicidal person feel worse about their plight because now not only are they suicidal, but they also are "selfish." Anyone who engages in that type of judgmental thinking is selfish themselves, only considering their viewpoint, and act as a barrier to progress. Instead, if a friend or family member is suicidal, people should instead encourage that person to seek the help they need and remind them that there is light on the other side of the tunnel. Having suicidal thoughts is not wrong because life experiences have taught people that the world is a certain way, but the suicidal need to remember that life can and will get better if they seek the help that they need.