Sections
1. What do people do to help themselves when they’re feeling suicidal?
2. People distract themselves
People find different ways to distract themselves from their thoughts
Finding ways to distract yourself from your thoughts or take your mind off the way you’re feeling can be helpful if you’re finding it overwhelming. Our lived experience panel shared many different examples of how they distract themselves when they’re having suicidal thoughts.
Things that people with lived experience suggest can help you in the moment:
- Try activities that involve using your hands, such as crocheting, knitting, cross-stitching, or playing a musical instrument.
- Look through photos.
- Small acts of self-care, such as drinking water, eating a snack, or simply sitting in a comfortable spot, can all help you steady yourself.
More suggestions from members of our lived experience panel
- “Watching a TV series that gives some escapism.”
- “Being taught to journal one's feelings is very helpful—it worked for me. Also, listening, looking, and being mindful of everything else going on around one can help interrupt unhelpful thoughts.”
- “Go for a walk, yes it’s the last thing you want to do but it stops the noise.”
- “When I feel really bad I go to bed and sleep so the noise in my head cannot be heard.”
Things you can do to help yourself in the future:
- Create a sensory box which includes something to taste, something to touch, something to hear, something nice to smell and something to look at. You could create it alone or with someone else if you feel doing that would help.
- Create a grounding box for if you cannot get outside easily when you're in distress. Fill a box with things from nature - a pebble, a rock, a twig, a leaf, a crystal or anything else that you are drawn to. Grab the box and touch the contents.
I have a soothing box to remind me to take time out. I think everyone should have one who is prone to suicidal thoughts. This has things to take my mind away for a time, either to happy times, it has a tea bag, a few biscuits, rubics cube, an electronic game from when I was child, painting and drawing things, a model to make etc.
Member of Samaritans' lived experience panel
Remember, these ideas and suggestions came from people with experience of suicidal thoughts. Everybody is different and what works for one person might not be right for someone else, but they’ve shared lots of different ideas and examples of things they find helpful when they’re having suicidal thoughts.