Fear of suicide?

[tbs152]

Hi everyone

First off, some background. A year or two ago I was on meds (ecitalopram) twice over 4 months. The second time I succumbed to 'suicidal ideation', which is essentially when you become obesessed with it without any desire to carry it out. Suffice to say it scared the bejesus out of me.

A couple of years on and it's been under control and has 99% vanished. Suddenly however, during a recent anxiety relapse, I've been having these scary thoughts again. Let me make this clear - I am not actively suicidal and do not want to die. I have a great life and lots I want to do. I'm just scared to hell that I'll commit suicide! How irrational is that?

Let's say I'm alone, if the topic pops in to my head, I'll start to obsess about it and it scares me. Even seeing the word scares me. I hate it!

Can anyone help? I've tried CBT techniques which work well with GAD but aren't very good at addressing this fear - I can't exactly use exposure therapy with this one!

Any help on getting rid of this haunting fear would be fantastic.

Thanks to everyone in advance!

[emm]

A good technique for thought stopping I found is a kind of reverse psychology. When you try not think about a thought it becomes all you can think about. Why don't you try really hard to try and concentrate on that thought. Try to hold it clearly you should find the thought slips away. Soz if it doesn't help but worth a try I hope. X

[DavidJ85]

I'm suffering from this lately but it's also me putting the thought in my mind as I hate suffering from anxiety so much I don't know what else to do.

I'm trying everything !

[harasgenster]

Hi
I used to get this a lot and have a few times recently.

What I used to do was find something to do I enjoy each time the thought came into my mind. For me it was walking my dog with my mp3 player on. You start daydreaming and the thought kind of slips out of your mind and you stop feeling that way.

In fact, I found just about all exercise helped - I suppose being out in the fresh air and getting some endorphins running through your system puts you in a better mood and helps you fantasise about something nice instead!

Hope this helps.

[Fly away Katie]

Ive suffered with this too...
The fact that you have acknowledged it..proves that you dont want to do it.
Dont stess. Think positively..
Write down all the wondeful things in your life.
And spend lots of time with friends and doing things that make you happy.
Youl soon forget about it xxxxxxxxxxxx

[cheryl_84]

have you tried cbt? i got a book on it from amazon and it teaches techniques on how to divert your thoughts.. might be worth a try if you fancy an alternative treatment.

[lalala]

It's an intrusive thought. The more you try to push it away - and the greater your emotional response is - the more it will stick around. I found this exercise and explanation really helpful;

http://www.panic-and-anxiety-attacks.com/intrusive-thoughts/

Also you could try 'thought flooding' where you think of the thought as much as possible - repeat it 200 times in your head - and your brain will become bored and disinterested in it.