Depression and suicidal moods

Depression and suicidal moods

Have you ever been so depressed, you felt like life was bleak and nobody cared? Sometimes you do not even notice that your behaviour is actually induced due to chemical imbalances in the brain. Counselling could actually help resolve your deep set emotional issues but there are also cases which warrant a need for the sufferer to be put on psychiatric medication. A lot of people are against psychiatric medication regiments but it might just be the thing to save your life.

Suicidal moods and thoughts do often come during depression and it would be foolhardy to just dismiss it as attention seeking acts by a family member, friend or even a stranger. I know because I have been there before. I have had a history of depression since my teenage years and I often had suicidal thoughts, especially after I was diagnosed with schizophrenia later on in life. I had survived a suicide attempt and the road had not been easy to totally eliminate the suicidal moods.

Due to my fear of being embarrassed by my mother, I never ever told her about my suicidal moods. It was not until I survived my suicide attempt and in my darkest hour due to schizophrenia that I discovered my mom would never ever make fun of me in regards to my depression or of my suicidal thoughts. This led to my personal journey of learning to pinpoint symptoms which contribute to different severity levels of my suicidal thoughts.

These are some telltale signs:

• Do you feel sad often?
• Is getting out of bed feeling like a chore everyday?
• Are you thinking of making yourself hurt physically so that you do not feel emotionally hurt anymore?
• Do you fantasize about ways to end your life?
• Are you reading up on ways to commit suicide online the internet?
• Have you ever felt so depressed you wanted to end your life to stop the pain?

If you do not have sympathetic family members or friends who would offer a listening ear, it might be good to call up your local crisis hotlines to try out how you like the service. If that does not work for you, just before you start making appointments with psychiatrists and psychologists or even professional counsellors, gather a few favourite items that you can keep close to you. Objects or pictures which matters most to you can serve to help you rethink and step back from making that decision to end it all.

And before you start getting offensive towards anyone around you when you are in a depressive or even suicidal mood, stop just for a second and do the following:

• Close your eyes just for around 30 seconds and then more if you can handle it.
• Take some deep breaths for 30 seconds to 1 minute. Your tummy should rise and fall instead of primarily your chest area. This will work your diaphragm and not just give you hyperventilating lung deep breaths. It will help to oxygenate your brain and physical body, calming your overwhelming emotions at that moment.
• Grab hold of one of your favourite items and feel it with your hands and remember what it means to you.

This should be sufficient enough to help you step back from a rash decision of an overwhelming emotional moment.

When you have time and can think straight slightly better, write a list of reasons why your favourite items matter to you so much. Keep this piece of paper or electronic note in your mobile device close so you can refer back to this list whenever you want to or need to.

Have courage and seek help. It is not embarrassing to seek help and admit that you have a problem. And if all else fails, pray to whatever divine religious or spiritual deities you believe in and have hope in your heart that everything will be alright.