How to Get Help For & Understand Depression and Suicidal Thoughts

If you are feeling suicidal, don’t despair. Suicide is preventable, and you can get help right away. There are people who care, who understand how you feel. And there are many suicide prevention services that can offer immediate support in your mental health crisis.

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Suicide Prevention: Crisis Numbers and Resources

If you are struggling with suicidal thoughts or have made plans to harm yourself or take your own life, you can find free and confidential support right now.

• U.S. residents can call 1-800-273-TALK (8255) or text “START” to 741741.
• If you live outside of the United States, contact the International Crisis Center in your home country.

No matter where you live, help is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year.

Are You Suicidal?

Suicide is the voluntary taking of one’s life. Being or feeling suicidal occurs when you have suicidal thoughts or ideations. Suicidal thoughts center around wanting to harm yourself or to take your own life. Suicidal ideation is when you plan or imagine what your own suicide would be like.

If you experience these thoughts, have made plans like these, or have harmed yourself as a means of handling pain or misfortune in your life, you are at higher risk of suicide and should seek help as soon as possible.

Suicidal thoughts may be accompanied by feelings like:

• I don’t want to go on living.
• No one understands me or what I’m going through.
• There is no hope for changing my bad situation.
• No one loves me.
• My life is meaningless or worthless.
• People in my life would be better off without me.
• Harming myself or taking my own life is the only way to make the pain go away.

Important Note: Suicidal thoughts or ideations are no less serious if they are fleeting or sudden. Even if you have never made detailed plans, and even if you have never attempted suicide or self-harm, risk of suicide is still present and deserves immediate attention.

Long-Term Help: Understanding Suicidal Thoughts

Even when you are not in the midst of a severe mental health crisis, you may find yourself experiencing suicidal thoughts. While the thoughts themselves are certainly scary, understanding their source may help with managing and decreasing them long term. The following are some common sources of suicidal thoughts:

• Sexual assault
• Abuse, manipulation, cruelty, or other attacks on your self-worth
• Especially severe mental illness (or mental health issues that have gone untreated or unmedicated for long periods of time)
• Neglect or abandonment

In short, trauma can be the root of the painful feelings that lead to suicidal thoughts.

We hope it helps to know that suicidal thoughts and feelings – even when they seem very intense – are still just thoughts and feelings. They can be better understood. They can be managed and treated. And they can lessen their hold on our hearts and minds.

Our mentors are here to help anytime you have suicidal thoughts and there are people ready and willing to pray for you anytime. TheHopeLine has supported many young adults on their path to regain clarity and reconnect with healthy feelings and relationships. You can break free from suicidal thoughts starting right now.