Click here to download our resource: Suicide Safety Plan
Plain text version below, translatable via the dropdown menu at the top of the screen.
SUICIDE SAFETY PLAN
When thoughts of suicide are overwhelming, staying safe for even 5-10 minutes takes a great deal of strength. This plan is to use during those times. It isn’t a plan for how to rid yourself of thoughts of suicide, it looks at staying safe right now so that you still have the chance to fight another day and access support for whatever is impacting on those thoughts overall. These thoughts and feeling can change, it doesn’t mean you will feel like this forever. Let’s concentrate on what you can do right now.
Why do I want to stay safe?
What are the reasons I don’t want to die today? Are there people or animals that make me want to stay safe? Do I have hope that things might change? Am I afraid of dying? Do I want to stay alive just for right now?
Making my environment safer:
Whilst I am focusing on safety, how can I make it harder to act on any plans I might have for suicide? Where can I put things I could use to harm myself so they are harder to get to if I feel overwhelmed?
This doesn’t mean having to get rid of them forever. It is because I am looking at staying safe right now. If these things make it harder for me to do this, I want to make it harder to use them. This will give me time to connect to that part of me that doesn’t want to die.
What might make it harder for me to stay safe right now and what can I do about this?
Do I use any drugs, alcohol or medication to cope? These can make it harder to stay safe if they make me more impulsive or lower my mood. What can I do to make these safe?
If I have acted on thoughts of suicide before, what makes it harder to stay safe that I might need to consider while staying safe today?
Do I have any mental health concerns or symptoms that make it harder to stay safe? How can I help with these?
What strengths do I have that I can use to keep myself safe?
What strengths do I have as a person and how might this keep me safe? What do people who care about me say about this? Am I creative? Determined? Caring? Do I have faith or any positive statement I use for inspiration? How can I use this in my plan to stay safe right now?
Who can I reach out to for help?
If I can’t stay safe, who is available to help me? Who has helped me in the past? What helplines or emergency contacts can I use?
- 101 or 999 for emergency support
- NHS 111 for medical advice
- HOPELINE247: 0800 068 4141
Long-term support plan:
After staying safe-for-now from suicide, what longer term support do I want? How might I access this? What do I need to change for my thoughts of suicide to change? Where might I start to get help with this?
- Talk to my GP
