How do I tell my therapist about my suicidal itentions?

[romeinjuly]

I first started seeing him in october when I was in a manic state. We talked about my mental state at the time and I started medication, and I saw some pretty massive improvement. I don't have constant OCD-like thoughts and paranoia, and for a while I was feeling pretty much stable. Not motivated or happy or anything like that, but also not totally depressed. I can honestly say I didn't have suicidal thoughts anymore and things felt easier to handle, I used to snap back faster from negative days/weeks and felt sort of more resilient and overall capable of handling myself. so our sessions started to focus more on my trauma, past trauma, family relationships, recent break up another more mundane things. But I have started to feel suicidal again and I don't know how to breach the topic because it seems like a sudden change of tone? our last session was about trouble I was having at university and now I should just go there and be like "hey, I know I said that medication was working and that we both were confident in my ability to improve but I kind of want to blow my brains out" ???

 

[mortuarymary]

In your next session tell them. They can't help if you can't tell them.

 

[Labyrinth]

Frankness and sincerity must prevail. I'm thinking about seeking therapy, I'm going to tell you everything I think without worrying about reactions.

 

[siouxsie]

I first started seeing him in october when I was in a manic state. We talked about my mental state at the time and I started medication, and I saw some pretty massive improvement. I don't have constant OCD-like thoughts and paranoia, and for a while I was feeling pretty much stable. Not motivated or happy or anything like that, but also not totally depressed. I can honestly say I didn't have suicidal thoughts anymore and things felt easier to handle, I used to snap back faster from negative days/weeks and felt sort of more resilient and overall capable of handling myself. so our sessions started to focus more on my trauma, past trauma, family relationships, recent break up another more mundane things. But I have started to feel suicidal again and I don't know how to breach the topic because it seems like a sudden change of tone? our last session was about trouble I was having at university and now I should just go there and be like "hey, I know I said that medication was working and that we both were confident in my ability to improve but I kind of want to blow my brains out" ???

I had the same issue and made a post about it. Maybe the advice given to me can be useful to you. Here's the post

Thread 'Advice needed. Want to get better but don't want to disappoint therapist'
https://sanctioned-suicide.net/thre...but-dont-want-to-disappoint-therapist.147198/

 

[Sleepycat]

I would never recommend you tell any "doctor" about those thoughts. And never in so clear of terms. They hold your life and rights in their fingers and will happily lock you up without any form of autonomy.
Even if you call a help line they can still send cops to get you and charge you if they so choose.
As someone who does wish for death on a daily to hourly basis, I would never tell another member of "medical staff" what goes on in my head. They are never to be trusted. They do not have your best in mind or wallet.
As an additional note. If you insist that it's something you need to bring up. Bring it up. Worrying about the therapist means You've been wasting your money on the therapist because you only tell them what you think is convenient for them. That doesn't help you, the patient. And if it means they don't have to work, they won't call you on it.

 

[siouxsie]

I would never recommend you tell any "doctor" about those thoughts. And never in so clear of terms. They hold your life and rights in their fingers and will happily lock you up without any form of autonomy.
Even if you call a help line they can still send cops to get you and charge you if they so choose.
As someone who does wish for death on a daily to hourly basis, I would never tell another member of "medical staff" what goes on in my head. They are never to be trusted. They do not have your best in mind or wallet.
As an additional note. If you insist that it's something you need to bring up. Bring it up. Worrying about the therapist means You've been wasting your money on the therapist because you only tell them what you think is convenient for them. That doesn't help you, the patient. And if it means they don't have to work, they won't call you on it.

As a med student i sort of take this personally. We're not all black sheep and neither are people in mental health jobs. When we're sure people are safe until their next appointment we're not gonna have them hospitalized. Even if we do it's for a very limited amount of time. And after all this is the recovery section. So I assume op does want help with their mental health and knows that being an imminent danger to themselves might lead to hospitalization. If one is trying to overcome their issues being completely honest with a therapist is the way to go. I told my psychiatrist I get suicidal impulses, told him I know how I'd do it, but that I do not have what I'd need to do so at home. And here I am, at home, not hospitalized.

We all are entitled to our opinions and so are you. But this is the recovery section. Op is asking for help with telling his therapist how he feels and that's what kind of replies he should receive. There's people here who have their mind set to ctb and there's people here who want to try recover. It would be great if all of us would be accepting to both kinds of people. We're not going to post "seek therapy" stuff in goodbye post and there probably shouldn't be "therapy sucks" post in the recovery section.

Sorry for the rant, it's not meant as an insult. This is a place where all of us find understanding so mutual respect should be a given.

 

[Sleepycat]

As a med student i sort of take this personally. We're not all black sheep and neither are people in mental health jobs. When we're sure people are safe until their next appointment we're not gonna have them hospitalized. Even if we do it's for a very limited amount of time. And after all this is the recovery section. So I assume op does want help with their mental health and knows that being an imminent danger to themselves might lead to hospitalization. If one is trying to overcome their issues being completely honest with a therapist is the way to go. I told my psychiatrist I get suicidal impulses, told him I know how I'd do it, but that I do not have what I'd need to do so at home. And here I am, at home, not hospitalized.

We all are entitled to our opinions and so are you. But this is the recovery section. Op is asking for help with telling his therapist how he feels and that's what kind of replies he should receive. There's people here who have their mind set to ctb and there's people here who want to try recover. It would be great if all of us would be accepting to both kinds of people. We're not going to post "seek therapy" stuff in goodbye post and there probably shouldn't be "therapy sucks" post in the recovery section.

Sorry for the rant, it's not meant as an insult. This is a place where all of us find understanding so mutual respect should be a given.

I am not saying don't seek help. I'm saying don't trust the "authorities". But hey my own experiences with the medical field and staff during my own trying to recover process. Rubber rooms and straight jackets are fun. Being locked up is fun. Trusting people to help only to be detained against your will, ignored, bullied, and billed. Get phone calls day in and day out cuz you cannot afford treatment you were forced into even after telling everyone you were broke and didn't consent.
Most "professionals" I've met don't care, you are an invoice and a bother.
But you're right. Everyone gets their own opinions. This is mine based off the experiences I've had with the "mental health professionals" during my own attempts to recover. So much time, energy, money, efforts, and trust wasted and broken.
Be willing to try to recover, many times sometimes, but don't go in with rose colored glasses and open trust either.
Also, if you notice near the bottom of my comment I believe I said something like " if it is something you trust with your doctor do it. But not mentioning it to spare the doctor will not help you either."

 

[siouxsie]

I am not saying don't seek help. I'm saying don't trust the "authorities". But hey my own experiences with the medical field and staff during my own trying to recover process. Rubber rooms and straight jackets are fun. Being locked up is fun. Trusting people to help only to be detained against your will, ignored, bullied, and billed. Get phone calls day in and day out cuz you cannot afford treatment you were forced into even after telling everyone you were broke and didn't consent.
Most "professionals" I've met don't care, you are an invoice and a bother.
But you're right. Everyone gets their own opinions. This is mine based off the experiences I've had with the "mental health professionals" during my own attempts to recover. So much time, energy, money, efforts, and trust wasted and broken.
Be willing to try to recover, many times sometimes, but don't go in with rose colored glasses and open trust either.
Also, if you notice near the bottom of my comment I believe I said something like " if it is something you trust with your doctor do it. But not mentioning it to spare the doctor will not help you either."

You're right, I apologize. I took your post a little too personal. And I'm very sorry you had such awful experiences with mental health services.

 

[Labyrinth]

I would never recommend you tell any "doctor" about those thoughts. And never in so clear of terms. They hold your life and rights in their fingers and will happily lock you up without any form of autonomy.
Even if you call a help line they can still send cops to get you and charge you if they so choose.
As someone who does wish for death on a daily to hourly basis, I would never tell another member of "medical staff" what goes on in my head. They are never to be trusted. They do not have your best in mind or wallet.
As an additional note. If you insist that it's something you need to bring up. Bring it up. Worrying about the therapist means You've been wasting your money on the therapist because you only tell them what you think is convenient for them. That doesn't help you, the patient. And if it means they don't have to work, they won't call you on it.

Your comment was splendid, it covered all the crucial points.

 

[Sleepycat]

You're right, I apologize. I took your post a little too personal. And I'm very sorry you had such awful experiences with mental health services.

Thankyou for the sentiment. I honestly try to not hold such anger towards the experiences. Obviously, I'm not always successful. I apologize for being bitey as well.
I hope you do well in your studies.

 

[CuriosityAndCat]

Yes. You should say that. In the words you feel most comfortable. They can't help if you don't say anything. With some medications too high of a buildup can cause suicidal ideation. So meet with psychiatrist as soon as possible.