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What to Do When Feeling Suicidal?

Suicide is something people turn to when their mental anguish becomes greater than their ability to deal with it. Surviving suicidal feelings is painful and difficult, but the most important thing is to realize it can be done. Suicide is never the answer.

  1. Make A Call

    • Suicide requires immediate medical help. Call 911, or dial a suicide hotline where a trained professional will listen to you without passing judgment. 1-800-SUICIDE is a well-known help hotline in the United States, and 1-800-999-9999 is specially staffed for teenagers. Calling these or other such hotlines is an important first step to survival.

    Get Some Help

    • If you are feeling suicidal, there is a good chance you suffer from clinical depression. This is actually good news, because depression is a medical disease, just like cancer or diabetes, and it can be treated with therapy and medication. Your doctor or the person who takes your call at the suicide hotline will be happy to help you find someone who can treat your illness.

    Realize The Consequences

    • Many people see suicide as a path to relief from the pain of depression. What they fail to realize is that relief is a feeling, and you must be alive to experience it. Suicide is permanent, and it does not provide relief; it merely ends a life too soon. Real relief, true relief, is possible only through survival and treatment---and it is possible for everyone.

    Go To Suicide.org

    • Suicide.org is an organization set up specifically to help people who feel as you do. The front page takes only a few minutes to read and is full of helpful advice and possible explanations of why you are feeling suicidal. The important thing to remember is none of these things is your fault, none of it should make you feel ashamed, and that no matter where your feelings come from, you can survive and overcome them.

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