Feeling suicidal? Reach Out.

[Lia~~]

Scarey title for a thread, eh? Well, feelings of suicide are scarey as hell and many warriors have experienced them.

Chances are, if you are reading this thread, - you may be feeling helpless and hopeless-- and maybe suicidal. There are some links here to numbers you can call for assistance-- and information about depression, suicide, and alcoholism.

If you have already overdosed on drugs/alcohol-- call 911. Don't think about it-- just do it.

If you are drinking and feeling suicidal -- pour your drink out and call someone. Drinking lowers inhibitions and may make you act on feelings that you would otherwise work through. Unfortunately, if you act on a suicidal feeling, you most likely will not get the chance to rethink that decision. This is one time is is OK to drunk dial. Call a friend, your doctor, the local crisis hotline, or:
1.800.SUICIDE
http://www.hopeline.com/6/suicide.asp

There is help, and there is hope. The first step is to put down the drink and ask for some help. The second is to accept the help that is offered.

[Megs]

If you're in the UK

http://www.samaritans.org/

Or dial 08457 90 90 90.

In the Republic of Ireland dial 1850 60 90 90, for the cost of a local call.

[Mybrokenhand]

Nice thread Lia. I commend you. I'd like to add that a trip to the ER is in immediate order when one is feeling suicidal. Call the ambulance. If you do not feel that you will act on your feelings, you MUST see a psychiatrist as soon as you sober up. No ifs.

[stallone06]

I agree this is very serious. When I go on binges I have these thoughts. I don't think I would ever act them out, but what if I was blacked out and couldn't comprehend what I was doing.

Pretty damn scarey.

I usually have the same recurring thought. I will be driving down the road and think about a fork in the road. One fork would lead further down the road and the other would lead directly off a cliff.

I have often thought it would be nice to take the road that leads to the cliff.

Screw alcohol it's the F'n devil.

[moondance]

One of the things that NAILED my quit to the floor was that when drunk I started to have very dark thoughts and would then hit blackout and wake up unsure of whether I had acted upon such thoughts....terrifying. Odd isn't it that whilst not drinking we wouldn't entertain the idea at all and yet we trick ourselves into believing that alcohol is a friend.....HA some friend when it doesn't give a shit whether you live or die as long as it gets it s fix... NO THANKS. As soon as I realised the potential cost (as in my life) I saw booze for what it was and happily haven't and WILL NOT look back

[Lia~~]

Sometimes we reach a point where it really is time to get emergency help. You know you are at that point if you are feeling hopeless, helpless, and see no way out except suicide. Sometimes people are afraid to call 911 because they don't know what to expect. This is what usually happens when you call 911 (it varies a little by location, but this is a general overview):

If you call 911 for help, an ambulance will come to your home. You will need to answer the door or leave it unlocked so they can come in. It is a good idea to leave a key in a safe, hidden area outside your home if you are going to need someone to come inside while you are gone (ie if you have pets or plants that need care). You could do this while waiting for the ambulance.

Paramedics will come inside your home and assess you. Tell them exactly how bad you are feeling and your plans. This is not the time to be anything other than completely honest. The paramedics will take you to nearest ER in the ambulance. Someone (a paramedic) will stay with you in the back of the ambulance while you are driven to hospital.

In the ER you will be evaluated by a physician and most likely a social worker. You will be given some immediate help. If you are actively suicidal you will be admitted to the inpatient psych unit -- if there is not a psych unit at the hospital you go to, you will be transferred to the nearest available unit. There you will be admitted, placed in a safe environment, and will have professionals helping you 24/7. Once you have stabilized, you will be given options for treatment.

HIPAA regulations prevent any information regarding your diagnosis being released to ANYONE, including your employer. You will be able to use the phone to call your employer (if you are admitted)-- you can simply call in sick-- it is best not to spill your guts about what is wrong-- you can decide later how much or how little you want to disclose. Just call in sick. You can also use the phone to arrange for care of your home or your pets - don't be afraid to ask someone to do this for you.

If you are at the point of wanting to end your life, have made plans to do so, or if you are in danger of hurting yourself -- if you cannot reach or do not have a therapist-- call 911. Your life is too precious to end this way.

[Reed]

Lia, thanks for posting this very important information.


If you have already overdosed on drugs/alcohol-- call 911. Don't think about it-- just do it.

If you are drinking and feeling suicidal -- pour your drink out and call someone. Drinking lowers inhibitions and may make you act on feelings that you would otherwise work through. Unfortunately, if you act on a suicidal feeling, you most likely will not get the chance to rethink that decision. This is one time is is OK to drunk dial. Call a friend, your doctor, the local crisis hotline, or:
1.800.SUICIDE
http://www.hopeline.com/6/suicide.asp

[Roxanne...]

Great thread Lia.:cool:

[Happy]

Another aspect of this discussion is calling 911 for another person. It has come up a few times when someone seemed to be in trouble and someone else knew their phone number or where they lived...I don't know what all the ramifications of that are, but this is one answer I got.

"We would have to give them our ID's and they would trace OUR calls to make sure it was legit. It depends on the state. Then they would send police to check it out -- if it was bogus we could get in a lot of trouble. It's not something I would want us to have to do."

I don't have any answers but it does come up...perhaps if you are pretty sure there is a problem a police dept nearby could be contacted and you could explain your concern and what you know...I had to make my own decision about this one night and you will have to as well, but perhaps some one with more answers could post here!

[Jigsy]

Another aspect of this discussion is calling 911 for another person.
This came up in the chatbox a few days ago.
Although we might be extremely worried about someone and
want to help, it is not up to us. People have to want to help
themselves.

[Lia~~]

International Suicide Hotline:

http://suicidehotlines.com/international.html

[Jerbear]

This is so important. Thanks for starting this thread. When I was involved in AA a while back there were some in the program who felt that people feeling depressed and who had been prescribed anti-depressants weren't really following the steps. Their reasoning was that your "Higher Power" will take care of everything and that by consuming drugs you weren't really clean. Many of these folks would judge pretty harshly those who admitted taking anti-depressants which resulted in the depressed going "underground" if you will and not fully sharing their experiences with the group. Some even went off the medication and came very close to killing themselves.
I have always believed that depression is a serious disease which will kill you if left untreated. Please note that I am not talking about the "run of the mill" type of depression we all face from time to time. I am talking about serious, "I can't get out of bed, why go on living with this pain" type of depression.
If you are feeling suicidal and are very depressed you need help, period. Don't screw around with this and don't get caught up in the arguments you might hear from some sober folks who think medication is a cop-out.
Stay Alive! We care about you!!!

[Lia~~]

bump.

Suicide is a permanent solution to a temporary problem.

I know the problem doesn't seem temporary. But suicide is not the answer.

Call 911. If you reach a point where death seems like a better option than life-- allow yourself the opportunity to be proved wrong. Cause death is irreversible.

[Lia~~]

The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is a 24-hour, toll-free suicide prevention service available to anyone in suicidal crisis. If you need help, please dial 1-800-273-TALK (8255). You will be routed to the closest possible crisis center in your area. With more than 130 crisis centers across the country, our mission is to provide immediate assistance to anyone seeking mental health services. Call for yourself, or someone you care about. Your call is free and confidential.
Para obtener asistencia en español durante las 24 horas, llame al 1-888-628-9454.

Para información en español haga clic aquí (http://wqd.netwarriors.org/Spanish/Default.aspx).
Why should I call the Lifeline?

From immediate suicidal crisis to information about mental health, crisis centers in our network are equiped to take a wide range of calls. Some of the reasons to call 1-800-273-TALK are listed below.

Call to speak with someone who cares
Call if you feel you might be in danger of hurting yourself
Call to find referrals to mental health services in your area
Call to speak to a crisis worker about someone you're concerned about
Find out more (http://wqd.netwarriors.org/help/default.aspx)

[Hopey]

bump.

Suicide is a permanent solution to a temporary problem.

I know the problem doesn't seem temporary. But suicide is not the answer.

Call 911. If you reach a point where death seems like a better option than life-- allow yourself the opportunity to be proved wrong. Cause death is irreversible.

this saying makes a huge difference in the lives of a lot of folks i know who struggle with depression and suicidal thoughts.

thank God for it.

thank you for posting it Lia.

[Lia~~]

((((((Hopey))))))

I overdosed when I was drunk one time. I almost died. I would have never done that sober.

My best friend didn't survive.

There is ALWAYS a better option than suicide. That's the one thing there is no reversing. If we can hang on-- just hang on-- to hope-- things CAN and DO change. There is hope and there is help.

Sounds cliche but only by the grace of God and a drunkdial did I survive. My drunkdial was to 911.

[Faith]

I recently overdosed while binge drinking. It was completely out of my character and something I never would have contemplated when sober. I don't think I wanted to kill myself but I can't rationalize why I would suddenly swallow 15 pills. Alcohol is a demon who for several years has made me feel psychologicaly bad about myself. Now it has made me try to physically hurt myself. i can't drink again and will start seeing a therapist.
I hope others who have dark thoughts when drinking but don't think they will act on them reconsider. We are not in control when we are intoxicated.