September is Suicide Prevention Awareness month. In keeping with it, let us strive to understand ourselves and others better and learn a little more about suicidal thoughts.

Most of us have, at some point, found ourselves in the midst of suicidal thoughts. At least once, most of us might have thought about ‘ending it all’ or wished we could just ‘stop existing’ out of sheer exasperation. Having a fleeting thought about taking one’s life when feeling completely helpless about a life situation is natural. However, most of us move past it and we try dealing with our issues in some way or another.

So how do you know if you or someone you know is not okay and is actually at risk of committing suicide?

The answer lies in looking at frequency and intensity of these thoughts. This means that how often these thoughts come to you and the extent to which they are associated with your emotional state – (either they cause it or are caused by it) will help you assess whether you’re okay and if you must seek professional help.

You know you’re not okay and must seek professional help even if any ONE of them stands true for you or for someone you know:

• You find yourself thinking about suicide most of the time, when feeling helpless and use it as a relief each of those times
• You find yourself feeling anxious about having these thoughts and try to reason with yourself: you feel guilty or scared of having them and so, try to talk yourself out of it
• Suicidal thoughts keep recurring even without you consciously wanting them
• Feeling as if suicide is the ONLY answer
• Finding yourself excessively imagining suicide in a detailed manner – the ways in which you could do it, how it will feel like to die etc.
• You’ve also been feeling quite distressed in general. Feelings of hopelessness, helplessness or anxiety have been overwhelming you and you constantly feel as if you’re emotionally struggling
• Feeling like you are not and will not be able to cope with your current situation

Either way, instead of having to decide or figure out if what you’re going through is ‘normal’ or not, it’s best to seek help from a professional and/or talk to someone about it. It’s a fact that talking about it helps! You don’t have to live with the thoughts all by yourself!

Post Contributed by: Sindhura Tammana