Reasons for Living Archives - Speaking of Suicide

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What Helps You Want to Stay Alive in Times of Despair?

February 9, 2025

56

These days, anyone of any political persuasion can find reasons to despair. Dramatic social upheaval. Climate change. Wars. Artificial intelligence. Mondays. If you wish you could die, or if you outright think of killing yourself, what keeps you going? In another post,…

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Suicide Survivor Stories Empowered Me to Live

by Shannon Heath Parkin

January 29, 2023

32

I will always remember the first time I heard a suicide attempt survivor describe how they recovered. I was attending a presentation through the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) called In Our Own Voice. Three years had passed since my own…

“What Stops You from Killing Yourself?”

by Stacey Freedenthal, PhD, LCSW

September 4, 2017

473

I advise my students to ask their suicidal clients, “What stops you? What stops you from killing yourself?” Some are horrified. They see this almost as a dare, as if they are saying to a hurting, suicidal person, If you really wanted…

If You Are Suicidal, Envision Your Future Selves

by Stacey Freedenthal, PhD, LCSW

March 8, 2017

26

Suicide lies. It tells you that the way you feel now is the way you will feel forever. Hope itself can seem like a toxic lie, a set-up for disappointment. The present feels permanent, and the future feels foretold. Don’t fall for…

Coping Statements for Suicidal Thoughts

by Stacey Freedenthal, PhD, LCSW

May 14, 2014

140

Many people desperately wish to stop their suicidal thoughts. Often, this is possible. You might be able to eliminate suicidal thoughts by healing the depression, stress, hopelessness, self-hatred or whatever forces underlie them. Yet it might take a while to stop thinking of suicide.…

Where Are They Now?: The Fate of Suicide Attempt Survivors

by Stacey Freedenthal, PhD, LCSW

July 5, 2013

59

Say someone wants to die by suicide so badly that they go to the Golden Gate Bridge to jump off. But then they are stopped from jumping. What happens to them afterward? You might think that, once freed from the authority figures who…

Reasons for Living

What Helps You Want to Stay Alive in Times of Despair?

Suicide Survivor Stories Empowered Me to Live

“What Stops You from Killing Yourself?”

If You Are Suicidal, Envision Your Future Selves

Coping Statements for Suicidal Thoughts

Where Are They Now?: The Fate of Suicide Attempt Survivors

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