Suicide Prevention 27 continued Do not keep suicidal thoughts to yourself! I’M HAVING THOUGHTS OF SUICIDE cont’d By sharing your thoughts with someone who can hear your distress, you are no longer holding “the secret” alone. There is no shame to thoughts of suicide.The thoughts are giving you important information that all is not well.There are people who are willing and able to help. Talk to someone, a friend, therapist, clergy member, family member, or teacher and let them know you are wanting their help because the situation feels so horrible. If the first person you try to talk to doesn’t get it, try someone else. Not everyone has the skills and where some people are good at “doing” things, others are good at listening. Pick someone or a resource you think will be best at the moment. “Hope can be as simple and as profound as the voice of another human being who appears to hear our fear.” What is it? Is it a curse or blessing or both? The sense of having no hope deepens our despair. One of the worst things we say to another human being is that they are hopeless. We speak of being hopeful…of feeling hopeless. We cannot give another person hope. Reality teaches us that what is hope to one may be a burden to another. In other words, my hope is not your hope. The challenge is to find a definition of hope that is truly our own. HAVING HOPE
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