Passive Sui thoughts- contact a t?

Trigger........ Mentions of Sui thoughts

Would you contact a t if you were having sui thoughts, but no plan and did not think you were in immediate danger, but still thoughts or if you thought you could figure out a "perfect" plan would? Would you want to talk to someone asap or just wait til your next regular session?

For me it depends when my next session is. If I am freaked out by it like its overwhelming then sometimes I leave a check in message and see her next session. If its more urgent and Im feeling iffy about safety Id ask for a call back. My T likes to know.

I would want to call my T but I don't always know if it is OK with him

No. You are rated very low on the scale of suicide concern for a therapist or psychiatrist. You have no plan or intention. Too many cry wolfs and T's get tired. Find something to distract yourself or call a suicide hotline... those people are there "to talk."

You even state that you are not in immediate danger. Don't you want your T to be there if you really need him/her?

1-800-273-8255 National Suicide Prevention Hotline

They just talk.

Are you kidding me? First...who says she is "crying wolf"?
If you have thoughts that concern you, speak to your T.
Second...that line will send PD/Fire to your home. They track your phone number, so better off talking to someone who knows your issues and can be a better judge of how much danger you are in. It's fine if it's the middle of the night, or you don't have/can't reach a T, but when you are paying a professional to help with these issues you need to be up front and turn to them when the issues come up.

The OP stated she has no plan and does not feel she is a danger to herself. BASED ON WHAT the OP wrote INITIALLY, her "risk" is low if someone were to assess her for suicide. (Google suicide assessment) Some clients use suicidal threats as a way to increase contact with T. Since limited information was provided initially, it sounded like this was a case of having to "sit with one's uncomfortable feelings" until the next appointment

If the OP had written what was posted in the SECOND post, maybe my response would have been different.

False about the hotlines. Unless you specifically threaten to harm yourself or another with plan, etc... they do not send people to your home. That is a myth and it prevents people from calling those numbers. As one other poster said the hotline was helpful. Most people find them very helpful.

Just as a T would, the hotlines assess suicidal risk and if you meet the top of the criteria, they will contact someone. BUT, in most cases, people don't... just as this OP, who has no plan, no "lethal" means like a gun, etc.
They talk to you and listen to you.

I have trouble admitting to my passive thoughts like that. I don't want to scare her. She gets noticeably very concerned if I talk about it. It's great that she cares, but I don't want her to be like actually worried and send me to the hospital again. I guess those weren't passive thoughts I was having when that happened.

The last time I had these thoughts and wasn't able to fight them was a year ago. I remember a couple of times since when sui thoughts/ideas came over my mind and I was able to "talk" myself out of it and think rationally. I don't have any plans right now because I haven't been able to come up with a "good" plans (google hasn't helped much) or get over the idea of hurting my family. My suicide attempts in the past have been impulsive, such as one night thinking lets take these pills and I should die; I hadn't been planning it, just thinking about it for a few hours. The impulsivity of those is what worries me and the fact I haven't been able to get rid of these for a few days. I also can't figure out why they came up. The most of the other times there was something I could clearly see. I've never had a special appointment with t before because of sui thoughts/attempts. T is also on vacation, so I'd just talk to whoever is available at the office. I don't have a plan because I don't have anything that would work- no guns, only otc meds, etc., and knives would be too messy. If I knew of a quick simple way I would probably do it, though I really don't want to and have no idea why I want to do sui. I think I might have figured out a way for tomorrow, but there is still a piece of me that doesn't even know why I want to do it so I'm not completely sure yet. I'm just not sure if since I'm not committed to sui/a plan/an idea if I should talk to which ever t is available or if I should wait.

Please stay safe

Calling a hotline or emailing might be helpful unless you are in acute danger of harming yourself. In which case I would immediately contact a hospital. I found talking to a suicide prevention team very helpful..actually more helpful than talking to any of my pdocs/ts. Sometimes we just need to get our emotions out and feel like someone listens and cares. But please call your doctor or the hospital if you feel like you might be a danger to yourself. Please take care and keep posting here so we know how you are

I don't want to hijack... But what I said about the hotline is NOT false. I know first handed how they operate. If you don't want anyone sent, call the Samaritans.

The first one I see would probably not understand what I was talking about and the second one I see would encourage me to give her a call if only for grounding or reassurance. Would hearing the therapist on the other end of the phone help you even if all they did was say to talk about it at the next appointment?

I would recommend having a plan in place for dealing with serious sui thoughts. This plan would include a safe person to talk to and/or go stay with. It may or may not involve your T, depending on how T handles things. I would discuss this plan with T so that you are prepared.

I listen on a suicide hotline. I have listened for five and a half years, many hundreds of hours, and I have contacted the Police a grand total of three times. Our particular office contacts the Police as a very last resort in times of extreme and immediate danger--and that's it.

If hotline concerns are about having the police called on you - you could use a public phone or an office phone and leave right after the call (although not convenient and public ones are getting harder and harder to find)

This morning they turned more active and I had a plan for tonight and was starting to get scarred/worried because I didn't want to really do it, so I phoned the receptionist and asked her if several of the t's in the office had available appointments today, and finally it got to asking her if any t had an available appointment. Well, I met with a t and he decided to try calling my t even though she was on a trip.

I am glad that you did that, dolphingirl. How are you doing now?

I called off of work (I was going to be 20 min late anyway due to the meeting w/ a t & I thought there was going to be an extra half person scheduled). I told them I had an emergency this afternoon and I didn't think I should come to work tonight, but if they absolutely needed me I could. I layed in bed and fell asleep. Then, I went to dinner and a group at church and saw one of the ladies I was supposed to work with that afternoon. I've kind of mellowed out now and am getting ready for bed. The thoughts are lessening.

Well done on reaching out for help. I'm so glad you did what you had to, to look after yourself. And of course that you are feeling better