If you’re in danger right now, please contact Lifeline on 13 11 14 or the Suicide Call Back Service on 1300 659 467 (both 24/7, Australia), or call 000 in an emergency.
Thoughts of suicide are more common than most people realise, and having them doesn’t mean you’re broken, dangerous, or beyond help. It doesn’t mean you’ve failed, and it doesn’t mean you actually want to die — for a lot of people, it means the pain they’re carrying has become bigger than the coping tools they have access to right now. That’s a solvable problem, even when it doesn’t feel like one.
You don’t need to be “bad enough” to ask for help
One of the most common things people say afterward is that they waited, because they weren’t sure their pain counted, or because someone else seemed to have it worse. There’s no threshold you need to cross before your pain is valid enough to talk about. If thoughts of suicide have crossed your mind at all — whether as a passing thought or something more persistent — that’s reason enough to reach out, today, not once things get worse.
Photo by Danie Franco on Unsplash
These thoughts can come and go, and that’s not a contradiction
Thoughts of suicide often aren’t constant. They can show up in waves, get quieter for a while, and come back — sometimes triggered by something specific, sometimes for no clear reason at all. If you feel okay some days and not others, that doesn’t mean you were “faking it” on the hard days, or exaggerating the good ones. Both are real, and both are worth talking about.
Creating a bit of space helps
If you’re having thoughts of acting on suicidal feelings, one of the most protective things you can do is put some distance between yourself and anything you could use to act on those thoughts in a moment of crisis — asking someone you trust to hold onto it for a while, even temporarily. Crisis moments often pass faster than they feel like they will in the moment, and that small bit of distance can matter more than it seems like it would.
If someone you know is struggling
If you’re worried about someone, asking directly — “are you having thoughts of suicide?” — does not put the idea in their head or make things worse. Research consistently shows the opposite: direct, caring questions tend to bring relief, not harm. Listen without judgement, take what they say seriously, and help them connect with professional support rather than trying to handle it entirely on your own.
Support is available right now
- Lifeline — 13 11 14 (24/7 crisis support, text and online chat also available)
- Suicide Call Back Service — 1300 659 467 (24/7, phone, video, and online counselling)
- Kids Helpline — 1800 55 1800 (for ages 5–25, 24/7)
- 13YARN — 13 92 76 (24/7 crisis support for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people)
- Beyond Blue — 1300 22 4636 (24/7)
- Emergency services — 000 (if you or someone else is in immediate danger)
If you’re outside Australia, please look up your local crisis line — most countries have a free, confidential service available any time of day.
You are allowed to reach out more than once, on the good days as well as the bad ones, and for reasons that feel too small to justify it. That’s exactly what these services are there for.