World Suicide Prevention Day 2021: How To Cope With Suicidal Thoughts?

10 September is observed as World Suicide Prevention Day every year in order to raise awareness about suicide and its prevention.

Every other second, a person loses their life to suicide. The core aim of World Suicide Prevention Day is to raise awareness about suicide prevention and 'Hope through Action' including a variety of activities around the world.

When you sense and recognize someone's struggles, be it your distant friend or a loved one reach out to them and provide them emotional support, understanding, and genuine empathy, this will help them in decision making, resolving problems and instill positivity amidst their struggles so they can move forward and seek help. This can also be called psychological first aid.

There can be no better way to communicate than letting people know you will be there for them in times of struggles and needs, showing them that there are always better ways to accomplish certain thing. There were more than 139 thousand reported accounts suicides in India, in 2019, 45% of which were majorly due to mental illnesses such as depression, bipolar disorder, anxiety, and schizophrenia.

How To Deal With Stress:

• Seek professional help to identify coping strategies customized to your specific situation and create a "safety plan" to go to if you're feeling hopeless and restless.

• Make sure not to miss any sessions or appointments.

• Keep a list of names and numbers including doctors, therapists, help centers, friends, and family whom you can connect with at all times.

• Plan your daily regiment. 

• Music or funny movies can help, you know yourself better.

• Avoid any intoxication as they heighten impulses and paranoia.

• Maintain a journal and jot down your ideas and feelings in it.

5 Steps To Healthy Recovery:

• Overwhelming emotion can cloud your judgment, making you impulsive which might lead to self-harming thoughts. Getting the right treatment at the right time can help you feel better at understanding yourself and be hopeful about life again.

• Be observant for your triggers, and acknowledge them, this will help you recognize and set boundaries accordingly.

• Eating healthy and taking ample amount of rest. Exercise releases endorphins and relieves stress while improving emotional health.

• Build a support system by surrounding yourself with loved ones and friends who are there for you when needed. 

• Join a support network offline or online to cope with suicidal thoughts and not be alone in this state.

• Try out new hobbies, volunteer for activities, that give you a sense of purpose and meaning. Your self-esteem will improve when you're doing things you like.

• Deal with stress in a healthy manner. Sometimes you have to feel things through, in order to grow, feeling emotions without bottling them can really help at times.

How To Motivate Yourself?

- Who are you living for? Your loved ones, your pets, your work? Carving meaning in your life can make a significant difference.

- Always knowing that problems are temporary, but suicide isn't and is never the answer no matter what the situation may be. Patience is the best virtue you can opt for.

- In your absence, your friends and family members would not be happy and go through grief and anguish.

- There is still a long life ahead of you to conquer.

- You are capable of positive emotions just as much of negative emotions.

It takes a lot of guts and willpower in you to go through emotions and things in order to stay and be normal, it is a journey in order to accomplish the feeling contentment. Knowing that emotions and feelings are temporary and everything is constantly changing, can impact your actions and thoughts.  Be safe and seek help.