Alex's Answer

Hi there,

 

You are very welcome to Ask Alex. Thank you so much for taking the time to come on and ask your question. We know this isn’t always an easy thing to do, and you have been very brave in doing that.

 

From your message, it sounds like you are going through a hard time with your thoughts of suicide and self-harm, and that this is ongoing even though you have been going to therapy.

 

It can be important to remember that it can take some time before we notice a change in how we are feeling or the thoughts we are having when we are going to therapy.

 

We hope you realise how incredibly brave you are and how amazing it is that you are attending therapy. It can be important to share exactly how we are feeling and be open and honest with our therapist. That way, they can try to give us tools or coping strategies to manage our feelings as best they can, based on what we are going through.

 

Mindfulness and meditation are great ways of helping to manage your emotions, but what works well can be different from person to person.

 

We are concerned about these thoughts you are having of suicide and self-harm. You have the right to be safe, and this includes being safe from your own thoughts. Do you have people in your life that you can go to or reach out to for support when you are feeling this way? It can be good to talk to someone in our life that we trust.

 

Always know that you are welcome to reach out to our free phone number at 1800 66 66 66 and our instant messaging service at www.childline.ie. Both of these services are open 24 hours a day, 365 days of the year, and it is a safe space to chat openly about how you are feeling. We would never judge anything that you say to us.

 

There are organisations that may be able to support you, too. Pieta House supports people around suicidal thoughts and provides counselling. You can find out more about their service at www.pieta.ie. There are also Jigsaw and Aware (www.jigsaw.ie & www.aware.ie). They both provide ongoing mental health support.

 

We wish you well with your recovery. Remember, you do not have to go through anything on your own. We look forward to hearing from you again, soon,

Alex