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Basic InformationMore InformationLatest NewsPot Use Ups Odds for Suicide in Young People With Bipolar DisorderFewer U.S. Cancer Patients Are Dying From Suicide, Study FindsADHD Raises Adult Suicide Risk, Especially for WomenCounseling on Gun Safety Could Cut Suicide Rate in Military: StudyPandemic Tied to Higher Suicide Rate in Blacks, Lowered Rate in Whites: StudyMore Childbearing Women Having Suicidal Thoughts: StudyDisasters Leave a Rise in Suicides in Their Wake: StudyBuying Gun During Pandemic Might Raise Suicide RiskCould Propecia Up Young Men's Suicide Risk?Money Worries Raise Suicide Risk in People With ADHD: StudyDuring Stress of Pandemic, Know Suicide's Warning SignsHow You Can Help Prevent Suicide During the COVID-19 PandemicSuicide Rate Keeps Rising Among Young AmericansAs Jobless Rates Climb, Study Finds Financial Stress Greatly Ups Suicide RiskWith Tighter Handgun Laws, U.S. Would See Fewer Suicides by Young PeopleSuicide Rate 170 Times Higher for People With SchizophreniaFewer Suicide-Related ER Visits in COVID Era, and That Has Experts WorriedWhen a Handgun Is in the Home, Suicide Risk Quickly RisesAs Coronavirus Pandemic Hits U.S., Experts Worry About Rise in SuicidesU.S. Suicide Rate Climbed 35% in Two DecadesCelebrity Suicides Spawn 'Copycat' Tragedies, Study ShowsSuicidal Thoughts Among Young Kids Higher Than BelievedAHA News: People With Implanted Heart Pumps May Have Higher Suicide RiskShotguns Often Play Tragic Role in Rural Teens' Suicides: Study'Tough Guys' May Be at Especially High Risk for SuicideFewer LGBT Teens Plagued by Suicidal Thoughts, But Rates Still HighNumber of Americans Headed to ER for Suicidal Thoughts, Self-Harm Keeps RisingPoverty Could Drive Up Youth Suicide RiskTeen Boys Who Attempt Suicide More Likely to Abuse as AdultsNew National Suicide Statistics at a Glance Questions and AnswersLinks |
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Suicide: Other Things You Can Do to Help Keep Yourself SafeNatalie Staats Reiss, Ph.D., and Mark Dombeck, Ph.D.Other things you can do to help keep yourself safe:
- Continue to practice your newly-learned problem solving and adaptive coping skills. Go back to your psychotherapist if you need a "tune up" and you find yourself sliding backward into old, negative habits.
- Consider joining a support group and/or using the Internet to remind yourself that you are not alone, obtain new ideas for coping with difficult times, and reach out to other people who need assistance.
- Keep a copy of your anti-suicide plan handy. This is a great reminder list of helpful hints that you can fall back on when you are not thinking clearly.
- Identify your triggers and develop a list of preventative strategies. For instance, if you know that the anniversary of your son's death tends to make you feel suicidal, identify ahead of time some strategies that you can use to get through this period. If these strategies don't work, keep emergency numbers handy.
- Follow through with referrals to other resources, such as a substance abuse program or rehabilitation program to help you address addiction issues.
- If you think you are likely to become suicidal or if you are significantly depressed and you are visiting a doctor's office, advise him or her of your condition. Ask for alternative, safer medications, or smaller-sized prescriptions so as to make it more difficult for you to use medications to harm yourself.
- If you are suicidal and own guns, take steps to get those guns out of your house so that they cannot tempt you. If you cannot or will not surrender your guns, then remove your ammunition from your home, or at least lock everything up in a manner that makes it difficult for you to access them on a moment's notice. An impulsive suicidal urge can be put off or delayed if it is difficult to reassemble the necessary gun.
- Alter the components of your environment that are stressful (as much as possible). If you hate your job, consider finding a new one, or, if you really can't stand it at all, quit and worry about finding another job later. If a friend is negative and/or unhelpful, decrease the time you spend with him or her. If your relationship with your spouse is faltering, seek marital therapy, and so on.
- Reconnect with family and friends who you find supportive to be around, and ask them for help before your next suicidal crisis gets out of hand. Keep in mind that people are not able to read your mind and will not necessarily know what is happening in your head and heart.
- Make use of crisis telephone hotlines and online support communities.
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