There have been a few times when I asked myself if I should go to the hospital, and I didn't. I should have. But I didn't because I was afraid of the stigma, plus I would have been reported to my state's Board of Nursing if I'd gone inpatient.

Bless his heart, my pdoc has always fought to keep me OUT of the hospital because he knows how fearful I am of it, but he doesn't know just how insane I can get because I never tell him about my suicidal ideation until I'm over it. And I've never told him about things like sitting up in bed till dawn staring at a piece of paper with the suicide hotline's number on it and being too scared to call. I know it's stupid, but it's what I do.

So don't be like me---like a previous poster said, if you're even asking yourself that question, it's time to go.