Can Urgent Care Help With Suicidal Thoughts?
Posted on: 3 November 2016
Depression and anxiety can drive a person to desperation and may cause an increase in dangerous suicidal thoughts. If you are suffering from this problem and need help, an urgent care facility is a great option.
Symptoms Of And Causes Of Suicidal Thoughts
Symptoms that you may be suffering from potential suicidal thoughts and need urgent care include:
- Feeling trapped or hopeless
- Concentrating on death and dying
- Purchasing items that could cause death (like guns or drugs)
- Having panic attacks and anxiety
- Having feelings of extreme self-criticism
- Experiencing personality changes and mood swings
- Going through isolation from loved ones
What causes a person to develop suicidal thoughts? Extreme depression often creates a sense of hopelessness that can make suicide seem like a valid escape route. Other problems that may contribute include bipolar disorder, anorexia, gender dysphoria, panic disorders, schizophrenia, and even a history of abuse or mental illness.
How Urgent Care Can Help
If you are suffering from suicidal thoughts and feel you may give in to them, go to an urgent care facility right away. These centers will assess your situation and offer a helping hand through the crisis. For example, they will sit with you and talk about your suicidal thoughts and help you identify where they are originating.
They can also help you get a good night's sleep which can help decrease your suicidal thought symptoms. Often they can give you medication that can balance your mood and make you feel less suicidal and more positive. Urgent care is typically appropriate as a short-term and immediate solution to suicidal thoughts that are recurrent are becoming hard to control.
Urgent care can also help by finding long-term solutions to your suicidal thoughts, such as psychotherapy, medications, family therapy, and treatment for any addictions that may be contributing to your depression and suicidal thoughts. While these treatments will be implemented outside of urgent care, these facilities can help identify an appropriate next step.
Fighting Suicidal Thoughts Outside Of Urgent Care
While urgent care can help you address the immediate risk of suicide and help you find long-term solutions, there's a chance that suicidal ideas may still occur to you during treatment. That's why it is important to come up with a safety plan while in urgent care that can help redirect suicidal thoughts. A typical safety plan includes:
- A list of positive things about the person and their life
- Distracting activities, such as reading, listening to music, or watching a movie
- Contact numbers of people who understand and are willing to talk if you feel suicidal thoughts
- Going to sleep to rest the body and mind
- Visiting a safe public place
- Getting to an urgent care center if the thoughts don't go away
By following these guidelines, you can protect yourself from suicidal thoughts and avoid falling a victim to this dangerous problem. Urgent care is often a crucial first step in this process, but just one of many that can keep you safe. For more information, contact local professionals like Meadowbrook Urgent Care.
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