I can't stop thinking about suicide.

I've thought about it for years.

I've made three suicide attempts and I don't know if I'll be safe tonight.

I just drink enough so I can stop thinking about killing myself.

I hate thinking about it.

These are the voices of suicide.

They're the voices of people in despair who don't know what to do about their thoughts and who might do something dangerous.

We know how to help people with these thoughts

And we know how to help people turn away from dangerous behaviors and towards something that can provide them with the help and hope they need.

There are several evidence-based treatments that help prevent suicide attempts.

This means that they have been proven to be more effective than other kinds of therapies in reducing suicide attempts in people who need this help.

Three of the most effective are dialectical behavioral therapy, or DBT, cognitive therapy for suicide prevention, or CT-SP, and brief cognitive behavioral therapy, or BCBT.

The proof that these treatments reduce the chances for suicide is very strong.

DBT, CT-SP, and BCBT share come common goals and activities.

Safety: the beginning of treatment starts simply by figuring out what people can do to manage what they are thinking during a crisis.

Sometimes this is called a safety plan or a crisis response plan.

Each safety plan is unique and individualized.

Managing hard feelings.

Sometimes people feel powerful negative emotions and they don't know how to manage or cope with how intensely bad they feel, which is when thoughts of suicide emerge or grow stronger.

Treatments help, people learn ways to care for themselves when the thoughts and feelings are the worst.

This can be done using relaxation, mindfulness or distraction techniques.

These are skills a person learns during a time when they are not in distress, so that they can effectively use these skills when they are feeling really overwhelmed.

Changing what you do.

People often develop their own ways of coping to try to manage how badly they feel.

Drinking or using drugs, isolating, avoiding work, eating poorly, or generally not taking care of themselves can all be examples of things people do when they are feeling bad but that we know don't work well.

The good news is that new skills can be taught and acquired to give people skills to better manage their feelings.

Changing what you think.

People who experience thoughts of suicide often become hopeless that things will never change.

Sometimes these thoughts can be triggered by something simple but spiral out of control.

These three treatments all focus on practicing, paying attention to, and changing these types of thoughts.

Staying well.

After people begin to feel more hopeful and develop some new skills to manage these thoughts, they practice ways to effectively and quickly respond if suicidal thoughts and behaviors return in the future.

Thinking about suicide is scary and it's hard to know what to do.

But those thoughts and behaviors can be targeted, treated and changed.

DBT, CT-SB, and BCBT are each effective treatments that focus directly on suicidal thoughts and behavior.

They can help people to improve and find hope.