Help with Suicidal Thoughts

It is a normal part of life to feel down and sad sometimes but if those feelings have become very deep and intense, and you don’t know what to do about them, you might think the only solution in to end your life. But there is hope for you… and you can get through this.

If you have hurt yourself or you are in immediate danger ring 999 in an emergency or attend the nearest hospital for urgent help. If you live in Bolton you can contact the mental health crisis helpline for free on 0800 953 0285. It is available any time, day or night if you feel your mental health is beginning to suffer.

There are also other ways in which you can receive support:

If you’ve been thinking about ending your life, it’s a god idea to talk to someone you trust, like a family member, friend or teacher.
If you don’t feel like you can speak to anyone you know, there are confidential helplines and text lines such as the Papyrus HOPELINE (Call 0800 068 4141), Samaritans (Call 116 123) and SHOUT (Text the word SHOUT to 85258). The Mix also have and safe online forums where you can get support from trained people.
If you have a self-soothe box or a safety plan that you have already made, have a look at that and see what you can do to ground yourself. If not, try to focus on your breathing.
Try to concentrate on what you can see, smell, hear, feel and taste. Say these things out loud. This can help distract you if your thoughts are difficult to cope with.

Articles & Guides

Coping with Suicidal Thoughts

The Mix provide some great online advice for young people under 25 about coping with suicidal thoughts or how to help someone else who’s struggling with them.

Coping with suicidal thoughts and feelings

Childline provide online advice on how you can get support for suicidal thoughts including speaking to someone, creating a safety plan and top tips that can help.

Creating a safety plan

Staying Safe have a page dedicated to creating an online safety plan. You can also download and print off the document to write on.

Shining a Light on Suicide – Young People

Shining a Light on Suicide is a Greater Manchester Campaign launched in 2019 to reduce the stigma around suicide and encourage everyone to talk openly about suicide, suicidal thoughts and suicide bereavement.

Suicidal feelings

The mental health charity Mind explain what suicidal feelings are, what may cause you to feel suicidal and what you can do to get help.

Suicidal feelings – A Guide for Young People

Young Minds have produced an online guide for children and young people who are experiencing suicidal thoughts.

Self Care Video – How to deal with unhelpful thoughts

An animation created by Every Mind Matters about how young people can deal with unhelpful thoughts.

Video

Somewhere New

An animation developed by Childline aimed at children and young people to provide ideas about coping with suicidal thoughts.

Mindful Breathing Exercise

Every Mind Matters have produced a 2 minute video on how to do a mindful breathing exercise to help you feel more calm and present.

Downloads

Papyrus have produced a document focusing on apps that can support your mental health such as Calm Harm, Stay Alive and Moodometer.

Papyrus have developed a stay safe plan for children and young people.

Papyrus have suggested a range of distraction techniques for young people experiencing thoughts of suicide

Students Against Depression have created a worksheet to help young people make more sense of their suicidal thoughts and learn strategies to cope with them.

Bolton Children and Young People’s Mental Health Leaflet

Local information about services available to support your mental health