Do you have suicidal thoughts?

We all know that life can punch you in the face and everything around us falls apart. Most often, life settles down and we get back on track again. But sometimes we cannot get back on track. Perhaps the same problem continues to plague you or the problems stack up in front of you and you cannot see the forest for the trees. Perhaps the problems have been there so long that you no longer have the energy to distinguish between what is important and what is unimportant. Or maybe you have a life-threatening physical illness that puts life on stand-by.

Life can be so difficult, complex and painful that it is intolerable. And this is when you start thinking: Is it even worth continuing? Am I just a burden to my surroundings? Would it be better if I was no longer here? No matter the cause of your problems, you must seek help if you start having thoughts of taking your own life.

There is help. You can contact your doctor, a telephone hotline or a psychiatric emergency room. When you reach out for help, you must be honest about your thoughts of suicide. Together, you will assess how serious your thoughts are. The assessment will be made on the basis of some questions to you, for example: How long have you had these thoughts? How have you thought about taking your own life? Have you previously had such thoughts? Or tried to take your own life? Can you specify good reasons for continuing to live?

You will also be asked why you have decided to seek help just now so that together you can find ways to manage your problems so that you will choose to live. Suicidal thoughts are most often more a desire to get help for coping with the problems that you are struggling with than a genuine desire to die.

Just being allowed to speak about the suicidal thoughts and the problems behind the thoughts can help. It can result in life not feeling so immense and hopeless. After you have spoken with others about your problems, you may no longer feel that suicide is the only way out. Together you will perhaps discover that life is worth living.

On the other hand, if you are struggling with your problems alone, they can seem insurmountable. Perhaps you have just hit a deadlock. Even just hearing another’s point of view on a problem can put things into perspective. And maybe the problems are not as impossible as they seemed at first.

Suicide does not just mean that life ends for you. It also affects your surroundings immensely. Relatives are often left with a feeling of guilt and that they did not do enough, plus they will have to live with the loss. And if there are children, there will be a huge loss for them. And it will affect them for the rest of their lives.

Therefore, it is important that you seek help in time and give yourself a chance to solve the problems before you decide on the ultimate last resort, which is suicide. If you have thoughts of suicide, it is important that you seek professional help.