[Goals2017]

Has anyone ever experienced Suicidal Ideation (SI) and if so how did you make it stop or overcome it?

[Blueberrybook]

Sorry, misread the question.

[Victoria'smom]

I didn't. I still get the urge to especially at night.

Possible trigger:

It's usually my wrists I want to cut

So I have a tattoo there saying "breathe". When the urge is really strong I will

Possible trigger:

masturbate or slam my arm really hard on the nearest surface.

Most sharp objects are kept out of reach. Sorry I can't help much but I haven't SI in about 2 years.

Lithium.

[Pookyl]

Hospitalisation.
Adding Depakote to my med cocktail helped.
Practising a mindfulness technique called ‘leaves on a stream’ which allows thoughts to come and go and not take hold.
Like MM I have a wrist tattoo.

[eye2797]

Hospital, Meds added on while inpatient.
I will say lithium has been a lifesaver.

[HALLIEBETH87]

my meds have been a lifesaver as has been my therapist's support.

[gayleggg]

I stopped by sheer will power. When I get to the edge "emotionally" SI still pops into my head as a coping mechanism and is hard to reject.

Meds help me overcome the feeling. I wish something else did, but no, not for me.

I *can* distract myself by posting on here and Reddit, though. I like to let out my feelings whether people respond to my posts/threads or not. I know that some people at least read it by clicking "hug" or "thanks" on my post, and that really makes me feel better, as I know that some people don't post because they don't know what to say.

I also like to take walks and just talk to people about things I'm dealing with, or I talk about random things to distract myself.

I think the best thing you can do is find (healthy) distractions if you can't find ways to overcome the negative feelings. But if you have an awesome therapist or find useful advice on the internet that helps you work through your struggles, then definitely go for it. Can't hurt to try imo

[gubernova]

Try to think of yourself as a valuable person. Maybe you’re not thinking that right now (I've been there and nearly succeeded once). You will hurt others by ending your life, you will be missed. Be patient, it took me six years to get better. Baby steps...

Medications, realizing that my family loves me, not wanting to go through pain and cause further injury (I still have pain from my attempt). It now only makes "sense" to me if I was both terminal and incapacitated (though I do not really know if I would feel that way if/when this happened). I think SI can be a sign of depression or uncontrolled anxiety (I used to think about it to distract myself from unpleasant thoughts).

[Unrigged64072835]

I have, and realizing the impact it would have on my husband and daughter usually snaps me out of it. I also have a therapist I can page if it’s really bad.

[Helmus]

I used to have it for a long period of time. Was obsessed with it. Almost did it once.

It's not always easy. Life's not always easy. For me it was an escape mechanism knowing that there's always a way out.

Now I look at things a bit more differently. Have no SI anymore. Even beginning to fear death again.

I changed a lot of things in my life 4 years ago and the change was good. It fixed something back then. Lately I'm noticing I remain having some unsolved issues. I hope SI will never come again. It's horrible to have to think like that. We as individuals are too valuable for that.

[~Christina]

My T first and foremost ,friends and meds ( I guess)

I have numerous friends I check in daily. If any of us going quiet we get louder and we have a law so to speak. To have a no glossing rule if we feel SI or even intent we talk it out and do a contract for days or weeks until it passes , it always passes

[Wild Coyote]

I honestly do not want to traumatize anyone with my own actions.

I was very traumatized when my father took his own life.


WC

[wiretwister]

meds ... but the truth is I have a distraction ... and there are times when I spend hours there ... it does not stop anything but it allows me to pull my stuff together and get over the really bad spots ...

if you feel si now please reach out for help ... er if it's really bad ... don't be afraid ... if you need help .. you need it ...

I call the crisis line. It's been very helpful. It's such a relief to talk it over with another person. I've only called about four times over the years (52 now) but three times it's saved me and the fourth they guy just rushed me.

[Guiness187055]

Medications did it for me.

[Helmus]

Originally Posted by whatever2013

I call the crisis line. It's been very helpful. It's such a relief to talk it over with another person. I've only called about four times over the years (52 now) but three times it's saved me and the fourth they guy just rushed me.

I agree with the crisis line. It has been very helpful for me once, although it can be hit and miss on occasions. They're free and anonymous in most countries so definitely worth a try.

I have had SIs during my most extreme desperation periods, but I never wanted my life to be over, deep down. Or if I thought I did, it was not rational thinking, but distorted illness thinking. Mine were more "calls for help" than anything else. Though I know death is inevitable for everyone, death seems to me to be far scarier than any pain I would ever experience from bipolar disorder. That's not to say I haven't experienced severe mental strife from the disorder, but I've learned that bipolar induced pain DOES and WILL ease up. Even if it takes five years, five years of suffering leading to any number of years or months of relief ALIVE is better than premature death, in my view.

I've learned that patience is crucial and patience almost always yields rewards. Patience coping through painful episodes. Patience trying to find the right medication(s). Patience dealing with side effects. Patience until I finally learn that some things are not nearly as painful as they seem, or that the pleasures and love that I have far exceed the pain that I feel. If pain seems to persist to a limit where patience and tolerance is just no longer possible, one has to really scream out for help (figuratively or even literally) and demand major action. If that means hospitalization. Do it! If that means ECT or Transcranial Magnetic etc. Do it!

Possible trigger:

I mentioned elsewhere that my family lost my nephew to suicide last year. He was only 24 years old. Only a few months before his passing, he said he was happy and excited about things in life. Then the illness clouded his thinking like a hurricane out of nowhere. It was so powerful that at a crucial moment, an impulsive act fueled by the illness, gave him no chance to find that relief and happiness WOULD return. Twenty four years old. He had a life in front of him. He was an excellent photographer with a special relationship to the beauty of the nature that he photographed. I am 98.99% sure, that if he didn't take his life in June 2017, that at many points since he would have felt good again and would be happy for life. I'm sure that with major medication, therapeutic, and other support that his illness would have eased. I'm certain that he could live many happy times until he was over 100 years old.

Yes, my family is devastated that we lost my nephew. We are devastated that he lost his life. We are devastated that the illness told him that patience would not yield rewards, and that he was drunk in pain to believe it.

From my years of therapy, I have learned how to fight anxiety to a very good degree. And fight depression to pretty good degrees. Am I always completely successful at fighting them? No, but I get better and better. I'm significantly better at it than I was when I was younger. I have the advantage of age and experience. I can ground myself better and quicker, too. Another thing I've learned from two extremely smart and talented psychologists is that the more you practice coping, and the more you remind yourself that pain will pass, or that it can be managed, the less hopeless things seem over time.

Originally Posted by Wild Coyote

I honestly do not want to traumatize anyone with my own actions.

I was very traumatized when my father took his own life.


WC

Possible trigger:

I still have a lot of guilt that when I almost died, it was traumatizing for my dad, sister, brother, husband and children.

When I looked at my VA records from this year, I noticed--one of my diagnosis was Bipolar II. This year, I finally stopped being as paranoid about medications and try to paint a true picture of what is going on to my psychiatrist and therapist. Plus, the VA has been providing me better mental health care than I could find outside of that system. Because of the relief my medications have been giving me (I am on additional ones) -- I realize my anxiety gets to the point that I do not see things as they really are -- without medications I feel like danger is lurking to the point I become irrational.

[vishva8kumara]

Meds and Therapy

[downandlonely]

I have never SI'd, but I need meds. Without them, I can't function. It bugs me when people say I shouldn't need anti-depressants. They can save lives.

[Fuzzybear]

I agree that meds can save lives. However I can’t take them yet am still alive. And that is “just too bad”..I have to “just stuff it up” and “just get on with it” And with all the intolerance of the “professionals” over here who don’t give a flying f.uck. So no I don’t have answers. Hi from the bottom of the hole..

Maybe one day I’ll get lucky and “just” not wake up