When you develop a Safety Plan, it is helpful to involve important people around you, as they need to know how best to care for you and help you keep yourself safe. Work with a trusted adult family member or friend, a professional, or hotline staff, to develop a suicide safety plan. Write your safety plan down and keep it in a place where you can find it when you need it. Your safety plan should include:

 

Information about when to use the plan. List the kinds of situations, thoughts, feelings or situations that may lead to feeling suicidal.

 

What do I need to do to reduce the risk of me acting on the suicidal thoughts: What warning signs or triggers are there that make me feel more out of control?

 

What have I done in the past that helped?

 

What ways of coping do I have?

 

What I will do to help calm and soothe myself: What I will tell myself (as alternatives to the dark thoughts).

 

What would I say to a close friend who was feeling this way?

 

What could others do that would help?

 

A list of things that I can do that help feel calm and comforted. 

 

A safe place I can go to.

 

A list of reasons for living (even if there’s only one). In times of crisis, it may be hard to remember the good things in life and only concentrate only on the pain.

 

People I can talk to when I'm feeling suicidal. I can include their names and phone numbers, and make sure I have back-ups.

 

Names and contact information of professionals who I can talk to if I need to.

 

A plan of how I can make my environment safe. Think about items I might be likely to use to kill myself and detail how I can remove or secure them. My plan may also include avoiding things I know make me feel worse.

 

If I can't keep myself safe, I will call 911.

 

Make a commitment to my safety plan. This means promising myself that I will implement my plan if I need to.