Tips for getting through suicidal feelings

Hi all
Does anyone have any tips for getting through periods of depression and feeling suicidal? It's really hard to do much while I am in college and part of suicidal feelings stem from a failed attempt 5 years ago.I know it sounds stupid but I am very type A and am still irked that I was stopped by a coincidence.

I keep thinking of my hubby and kids and waiting another day when I feel like that. So far putting it off till tomorrow is working but I'd like the feelings to go away and to feel a sense of hope for the future. I don't now but I still keep waiting, hoping tomorrow is different.

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For me, I usually think about the people I would leave behind and/or find my body. Basically, my parents. I think this really works for me because I've been on the other side of a suicide attempt in which a good friend of mine came very close to succeeding and I remember how sad I felt after that, and thus I am able to empathize with people who would be left behind in the event of my suicide.

The best thing for me is to think of my son and my family. There is ALWAYS someone who would be effected. I like to think of all the things in life I'd miss out on. I've never been married, so there's that. I'd miss my son graduating high school, getting married, having kids. He'll need his mom. And my parents might need me when they get old.

For me I think about the poor person who would have to find me. They would take it home to family who would in turn look for solace in others who themselves would do so and onward. I figure it would just spiral so hundreds would be affected.

I face the urge head on. If I am at a table, I press my wrists into the edge of the table until it hurts. I use the old trick of ice until that hurts too. I do the opposite with a feather, lightly dragging it back and forth across my wrists - it is very soothing. I have a long beanbag (sock and lentils) that is actually soothing too. Sometimes just the weight of it alone on my chest calms me down, sometimes I thud it agains my neck and chest and that helps me to cope.

I also recommend a "Behavioural Chain Analysis" worksheet to break down the causes and come up with coping strategies.

Yes, thinking about stuff everyone above mentioned helps. Helps in a sense that I understand that I cannot do this, however bad I think I feel. * works for me *

I can't stand thinking about my mother would probably just die internally if I'd be gone.
I can't stand thinking of my dog, not understanding where I am and why I'm not coming home...

I think about my grown kids and how angry they would be with me if I left them. And of course there's my husband, who would be shattered if I committed suicide. That works 99% of the time. The other 1%, now THAT gets scary...I ended up in the hospital that time. It was either going to be the gun or the pills, I just hadn't made up my mind. Thank God I checked myself in when I did. I really thought my loved ones would be better off without me. I don't think like that anymore.

Some thoughts I make that help me are:

a) After everything you've been through why die now?
b) Death is not as romantic as we'd like it to be.
c) You're always gonna wanna die. So while you're still living might as well be exceptional.

I just think about everything I have to do today!

I make a list of everything I have to do before I can carry out that final act. Things like deleting everything on my computer for privacy, making sure my cats would have care and not be left hungry for any period of time, clearing out old financial records or anything private that I don't want my family to know about. The list inevitably gets more and more added to it and since call someone and talk to them is on it by the time I Get that far I'm usually calmed down some and ready to talk to someone and get to my therapist ASAP. I also just have some rules about when I go to the hospital and so far I've been able to hold myself to those rules although it got very close once. I also remember that scary experience and how terrifying it was when nobody in the hospital realized that they were my last resort and so I had to tell a nurse the truth to keep them from sending me home. It's a lot easier to be honest with my therapist or pdoc so I do that instead.

And at this point I know I just can't because my oldest niece is old enough to understand and remember me clearly and I can't do that to her.

What helps me is, to decide tomorrow. Suicide is a big decision so I tell myself I need to sleep on it and decide tomorrow. The decision to think about it later usually stops me from ruminating on it in the now and helps me focus on something else..usually a book. Then I tell myself tomorrow for as many tomorrow's as I have to...if I can't do that I take it one hour at a time, if it gets worse than that I talk to a professional and let them help me decide if I'm safe.

I have 7 cats and a dog. Nobody in my family would take them in, so they would end up
in shelters
That thought always kept me going.
I can't go because they need me

I think about how devastated my family would be. I also remind myself that suicide is a solution to a temporary problem. If it gets really bad and I know I'm unsafe...I go IP. There is no shame in that. Take care.

I think about my sons and how it would ruin their life. When I start into that dangerous "better off without me" territory I really delve into the truth of that. In no way shape or form could that be true
So if it's that bad it's time for pdoc or hospital trip right away

Thanks for this post. I'm going through suicidal thoughts right now and this hasn't happened for years. I'm usually hypo not depressed. I don't know what to do right now, inpatient or not.

I mainly think about my husband finding me. I found my second husband after he committed suicide and I'd rather not put anybody else through that.