Sections
1. What do people do to help themselves when they’re feeling suicidal?
5. Remember, you are not alone
Suggestions from people with lived experience
Things that can help in the moment:
- Support is always available right now, whether it's from a trusted friend, family member, or a recognised charity like Samaritans (24/7), Childline, NHS 111, Mind, or by texting SHOUT.
- Reach out to your GP or if you are under a mental health crisis team, to speak with them, depending on the relationship you have with both or either.
- If you can’t keep yourself safe or have badly hurt yourself phone 999 in the UK or 112 in Ireland, or go to A&E.
Things you can do to help yourself in the future:
- “[Have a] list of safe contact numbers, such as Samaritans, friends, family, mental health outreach team. [Reach] out to a person you trust that you can be honest with and who doesn't mind you calling when you're in crisis.
- Create a plan with a trusted person about how they can help you in the future and how you can alert them that you need help. This could be a specific emoji or code word in a text that indicates you’re not okay and lets them know that they need to enact the plan. This plan also needs to include steps for when they’re busy or they’ve not picked up your message.
We're here when life's difficult. 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.
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.