Help for Depression and Suicidal thoughts
If you are depressed and thoughts of harming yourself or ending your life are taking over, please call someone who loves you and might understand. Don’t know who to call? Call or text #988 and you’ll reach the understanding folks who answer the suicide prevention line. It’s important. I promise.
Suicide and people struggling with suicide has affected my life and if you’re on this page, it has probably effected you, too.
https://988lifeline.org/ - this is the website for the suicide prevention line. It describes how it works and who is there when you call.
https://hmi.org/services/youth-services/mental-health-tips/ - this is a page of worksheets. I want to highlight the SAFETY PLAN, which is something you fill out with your therapist or family and that you both have access to when it’s hard to remember this stuff.
about depression
In our culture, we often think of depression as something going wrong. The depressed person doesn’t have the energy, to do what they used to be able to do. Their body doesn’t function super well (more sleep, not sleeping, lots of tv, not hungry, eating all the time…), they don’t have it in them to show up in a way that feels comfortable for other people, and that sometimes means they’re isolated or alone. Depression can be anchored in a situation or event or not. If we are having the symptoms of depression because there’s a life change that’s really hard and we don’t have the supports or the habits in place to help digest, integrate or live with what’s happening, shutting down is a way of coping in the short term. In the long-term, we need a better way.
There are lots of ways to get help. Seeking medical care and exploring options for medications is really useful. Working with a mental health professional — also very important. Yoga therapy can complement the other support you are getting and can help you to learn practices to help shift your energy, mood and state in a consistent way. It can also be a place to work on the underlying or over-arching challenges — maybe you can address the issue or work to change your relationship to them.
