Suicide Prevention 25 Will the thoughts go away? continued I’M HAVING THOUGHTS OF SUICIDE cont’d Reasons for living or engaging with possibilities of a future can help manage the current pain. Living and dealing with these thoughts can be helped through treatment. It’s not easy and still, neither the thought nor the feelings will end a person’s life; it’s what you do with those thoughts and feelings. Treatment is not one size fits all. Different treatments work better for some people and at different times in their lives. If you find you are thinking of suicide and can’t think your way out of those thoughts, reach out to a friend, a family member, clergy member, crisis line, therapist or counsellor.They may help you see alternatives, even if just for the time being, to help you keep yourself safer. The intensity of thoughts of suicide will wax and wane and for some, they may experience these thoughts only once in their lifetime.There can be moments or even days or years of comfort, relief, contentment, even humour or joy, in the midst of experiencing thoughts and feelings that in the moment seem to “never go away”. An example might be that even if my life is falling apart, I can still smile when I eat my favourite food while petting my cat. I can go on a vacation or a day trip and get some relief from the intensity of the thoughts, for the time being. If you are experiencing thoughts of suicide, it’s hard to think of the big picture of a future. That’s because your brain has engaged in what is called “constricted thinking”. Break it down into smaller chunks. “Future” might mean until the next commercial, an hour, a day, a month, or a year. Some people find it helpful to have pictures of people they care about or who care about them; a card or letter from someone important to them; a poem, painting, or song, nearby to remind them they are cared about. Some people find distraction activities helpful, a crossword puzzle, word search, movie, online games, exercising or dancing are some ideas.
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