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outlanderSenior Contributor
In response to: Keeping safe
Unknown userMember
In response to: Keeping safe
utopiaSenior Contributor
In response to: Keeping safe
outlanderSenior Contributor
In response to: Keeping safe
utopiaSenior Contributor
In response to: Keeping safe
outlanderSenior Contributor
In response to: Keeping safe
outlanderSenior Contributor
In response to: Keeping safe
utopiaSenior Contributor
In response to: Re: Keeping safe
ChrisSenior Contributor
I was helped to put together a sensory box. Its a box with something in it for each of the sences. Its very individual. Its what has meaning to you.
So i have pictures of family members. I.look at them and think how would they be affected if i did suicide. I have a picture of my oldest grandchild. Shes 19 now, but we are very close. She has suffered depression. What kind of an example am i to her?
I have my favourite scents lavender and eucalyptus. Inhailing one of those kind of takes over and reminds me of the bush and my garden.
I have mp3player with mindfulness practices and my favourite relaxation music. It sounds of the ocean with gentle music. I play this every day.
I have a maple leaf that has dried out, but if you hold it up to the light there are slight traces of green. It reminds me there is still hope dispite how i feel..
I also have hand cream so i can take time to gentle massage my hands. Sometimes i like to have a really hot shower and let the water run over me from head to to. I then get into bed wrap the blanket around me, cuddle a large pillow and put my music on.
Ive found the more i use these tools it comes more easily when i am going down hill.
I also stop and think what do i need right now. It could be a hot chocolate to sip on.
I know the worse i feel the more withdrawn i become. So i need to let someone know today. Its usually my psychiatrist or psychologist. I find it hard to reach out to family. I dont want to be a burden to them.
I guess it does come back to using those tools in your box and continually adding to them when something new works.
Hope that is of some help.
In response to: Keeping safe
Phoenix_RisingSenior Contributor
Hi @outlander,
I'm probably not much help because I've never understood the concept of a safety plan. I know exactly how I would end my life if I chose to do so and given I live alone and have no one to reach out to for support outside of the HC and Forum Land, I don't really understand what a safety plan would look like. I don't understand the concept of asking others to help keep me safe. Perhaps it's because I've had hundreds of instances where I did reach out for support either by going to the hospital and getting turned away, or calling lifeline and getting hung up on. I am not afraid to ask for help, but in my experience, help has not been forthcoming, so mostly now I just sit in my house rocking, stimming. The whole safety plan thing is a bit of a mystery to me. 
In response to: Keeping safe
QueenieSenior Contributor
I stream music constantly (as you may well know @outlander). Music is a way of life for me. Lately, I've been reconnecting with songs from my childhood and adolescence. Some of these tunes have triggered fond memories for me which almost make me melancholy when the track finishes and I have to return to the real world. Good news is there is almost always a repeat button.
For me music captures the essence of being human. It's joy (and sometimes it's sorrow). I'd be lost without it. I even have a playlist for when I am feeling like I do right now (which is pretty sad). Some of the songs are upbeat cheesy songs like Pharrell Williams' Happy but other tracks are just meditative sounds of nature.
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Help us push aside the stigma and discrimination surrounding complex mental health and change the way people talk about, and care for, mental illness.
SANE acknowledges the Traditional Owners of Country throughout Australia and recognises the continuing connection to lands, waters and communities. We pay our respect to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures; and to Elders past and present.
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