Semi-Suicidal: Don't Want to Die, But Can't Live Like This
Trigger warning: This post contains a frank discussion of suicide pertaining to feeling semi-suicidal.
September is Suicide Awareness Month, and in honor of that, I want to share my experience with feeling semi-suicidal. My hope is that other people who have occupied this awful in-between space will understand that what they're going through is very real, and someone else has been there too.
What Does It Mean to Be Semi-Suicidal?
Over the last six years, I've been semi-suicidal many times. Semi-suicidal is a state of being where you may experience suicidal thoughts or feelings, but don't necessarily want to die. This looks different for different people, but for me, it typically involves thinking something like, "I don't want to die, but I just can't keep living this way, being this person."
When I am semi-suicidal, I truly don't want to die. I don't want this life to be over, I just want it to be better, but in that moment, it doesn't feel like there's any way for that to happen. Because when I'm semi-suicidal, the problem isn't usually my life, it's me. I'm so inherently wrong in some way that living a good life sounds ridiculous and impossible. I become so ashamed of who I am that I can't imagine living the rest of my life this way, as this person I hate so very much.
How to Deal with Semi-Suicidal Feelings
So how can you keep yourself safe and maybe even feel a bit better when in this semi-suicidal headspace? I recommend these three things:
- Accept this is how you're feeling. I've spent a lot of time trying to deny my feelings and I think this is a very common experience when it comes to semi-suicidal feelings specifically. After all, you don't actually want to die, so you're probably fine, right? Wrong. Do not try to ignore these feelings. It's so important that you accept that you're feeling this way so you can take steps to start to feel better.
- Tell someone. This is hard because half the time I don't even know what I'm feeling, so I don't really know how to explain it to someone else, plus I don't want to cause them undue stress ("Explaining Depression To A Friend"). But I try to remember that these feelings are big and difficult and it's important for me to reach out to someone to help me deal with them safely.
- Send the semi-suicidal feelings to the corner for an hour. This is a strategy I learned in therapy several years ago, and it's a bit tricky because the other two steps have to come first. If not, then you're just avoiding and denying the emotions and that definitely won't help. Once you've acknowledged your feelings and let someone else know how you're feeling, you can treat these semi-suicidal thoughts like a cranky toddler and send them to the corner for an hour with a coloring book and a juice box. You aren't abandoning them or avoiding them, you're just refusing to let them take over your entire house. In an hour, check in on them again. Have they gotten stronger, or are they starting to subside? Monitor the feelings and go to the emergency room if they continue to escalate.
Have you ever felt semi-suicidal? It's more common than you might think, so please feel free to share your story in the comments.
If you feel that you may hurt yourself or someone else, call 9-1-1 immediately.
For more information on suicide, see our suicide information, resources, and support section. For additional mental health help, please see our mental health hotline numbers and referral information section.
APA Reference
Griffith, M.
(2019, September 24). Semi-Suicidal: Don't Want to Die, But Can't Live Like This, HealthyPlace. Retrieved
on 2024, December 23 from https://www.healthyplace.com/blogs/recoveringfrommentalillness/2019/9/semi-suicidal-dont-want-to-die-but-cant-live-like-this
Author: Megan Griffith
i really want to die im going to be completely honest, first off ive had tics for 5 years now, and recently i keep getting reported to the police. they came to my house today and i tried to keep myself up while talking to them and i dont worry about situations like this but this one did mess with me, my best friend reported me to my principal, i got reported to the police twice, and i got a warning but next time its a full arrest, no one even listened to me, i told the principal about some people that were racist to me and they didnt do anything but over the most littlest issue ever they got the police on me but not the guy that was making fun of my tics, my religion and shaming me for it. but from two words i said they did so much. i dont think my principal knows about my mental state. soemtimes im gonna shout words and most of the time slurs or the work kill yourself. it may seem funny how im writing about this right now but its the fact i get mad at everyone and shout and hit people, i cant really control what i do and i have no hope for my life at all right now. im afraid that i cant get prescribed medication for tics and i dont want to because it includes weight gain. yes i want rid of my tics but i dont wanna look worse than i am right now. i genuinely cant take this anymore and its too much for me but at the same time i dont want to die. i dont want to feel pain but i dont know how to overdose. i thought i could trust my friend but i cant. in 2019 i wanted to commit suicide but i just couldnt. i did self harm but i was too scared to do more. but if i realise were living on a floating rock and were probably just creatures, then what is the point of living. i dont think anyone would miss me especially not my friends because i can imagine them literally shedding a tear then just going on about with their life, i really cant get over my uncle and my grandmas death, they were my most favourite relatives but theyre dead now and i cant do anything about it. i just dont want to leave anyone behind. i had plans for when i was older to get probably one of my most favourite cars but i had a feeling that day i could never see because who knows, i could literally be dead and probably my online friends would think i quit or im just offline. i dont honestly think anyone would care about my death because im going to be honest, i dont think anyone wants to listen to me just chat on about my health. Ive been getting progressively worse and worse over the years. I feel that people nowadays are just full of themselves.
I’m so sorry that you’re going through this. It sounds so difficult and I can’t imagine what it must feel like. I know what it’s like to feel like no one in the world cares, that they’re all just caught up in their lives, and I’m so sorry that you’re feeling that way. I would just say stay strong and seek the help you deserve. You deserve to be alive in this world. Even if it feels like you don’t, you 100% do. I don’t know you but I can tell from this post it’s seems like you are resilient and care about others and have some hopes for the future. Stay strong friend, seek help if you are able to, and have hope if you can. I believe in you so much <3
I can understand how everyone feels. I got to this site for the same reasons. But in reading the comments I know we will get through this. I don’t want to die, I just don’t know how to live.
I think I will be going through a divorce after 20 years, my kids are young and one has severe medical needs. I need to be here for him and my other beautiful children. The problem is my wife and me. Please I beg of people here to remember the good times and know that we really all want the same peace and comfort. The loud noise of uncertainty will go away with self help. Hard to get that help I know, wait times for therapy and such. But remember we are all learning new things everyday and we can make mistakes, and you are loved. I love you! I care about you and your thoughts. Hold a door open for someone, pay for the persons meal behind you at the drive through. Try to change the negative into positives. I agree it doesn’t always work, but overtime, with patience, you will be the silver lining to someone’s else’s cloud. And from there we all grow, improve and fell better or at the very least, make someone else feel better.
I love this encouragement and touch of positivity. Every small step toward recovery matters!
I feel semi-suicidal. I don't like who I am. what I have become, isn't me. I can't relax anymore.
I feel the world is against me and life keeps kicking me when I'm already down. it's too much.
I feel so low. I can't take it anymore but I don't want to die though. I just want to be normal.
it seems like everything I do, goes wrong. no matter how hard I try, things don't get better.
if anything, things get worse. I was fine until 2020. I've become a shadow of my former self.
I'm always on edge and it doesn't take much for me to lose my cool and lash out.
First off, Sean, I'm so sorry that you're feeling this low. I've gone through similar feelings myself, and I know it's anything but easy to deal with. Some of these words feel like you've pulled them straight out of my own head. I notice you mention 2020 as a particularly triggering year, and the world's circumstances could have definitely had a big role in stirring up these feelings for you. Things—and us as people—were certainly shaken up. Your feelings are totally valid, and if you haven't taken the step to do so yet, I truly recommend reaching out for professional help. They'll be able to offer tools and strategies to alleviate some of what you're feeling. HealthyPlace's resource pages are linked above in this blog, but if you need them again, here they are:
- https://www.healthyplace.com/other-info/suicide/suicide-suicidal-thoughts-and-behaviors-t…
- https://www.healthyplace.com/other-info/resources/mental-health-hotline-numbers-and-refer…
I am teetering on the verge of following through as I do not have any way to gain purpose in such a flawed person as I. I have 6 kids (most are adults now with their own kids). I was abused from birth and then molested from age 6. Had my first kid at 18. First husband cheated on me. I spiraled. Got raped and got pregnant from that rape. Had an abortion that I now feel so guilty for. Drugs, promiscuity, risky behaviors, you name it...it was me. I haven't been that person for over 32 years but I often wish I could be because that life protected me from this hurt. Without going into any details, because they just don't matter any more, my kids had a mom who needed to control everything out of fear. I have a husband who is emotionally abusive off and on but never sees it. I am labeled the narcissist because I try to rise up and self-care but it never works. I have a hard time with boundaries because of my fears. I have been to counseling my whole life and all the tools I have been given, all the things I have overcome, don't measure up to when an adult child cuts you out of their life completely because I don't know how to see traps coming from the daughter-in-law. I didn't know there was a power play going on. I just wanted to guide and direct with the knowledge I had being a mom of 6. I am blunt and direct to a fault but have not been able to change that, no matter how many years I've tried. All that is left for me to be silent. Silent and invisible. Not a martyr because I will be criticized for that. Just need to be 'gone' in some way. :'( I can't do this any more. Going to "get help" does absolutely nothing. Victims here are my kids for having a mom with chronic ptsd and trauma. I can't live alone. I am alone. I don't care about friends. I don't care about others who want to care. I wanted a mom and dad who cared. I wanted a husband who cherished me. I wanted kids who understood me and could forgive me as I strive to improve each day. I don't have any of that. No matter how hard I pray, I just won't ever have that. Why am I even here?
All I am is all I'll ever be...
All I have is pain...
There used to be hope, but being let down again and again has destroyed it.
Nothing ever changes...
All it is is all it will be...
I am tired...
I've had enough.
I'm done.
I understand how you feel. Sometimes i wish i would just go to sleep and not wake up rather than facing another day... pain is real and comes in more ways than just physical. When I get this feeling, I try to do something just for myself, to feel important even if nobody else notices. Find that happy place. Mine is when i fix things or do "artsy" things. Crying doesn't get work and nobody cares anyway so to heck with them, do something good for yourself.
I love that. I try to do the same when I'm feeling like that and it can definitely be a help. Not always, but I say it's worth trying for sure. These moments are the perfect opportunity for self-care.
Sorry if I hurt anyone's feelings but I think it is BS to always blame the victim. Essentially the whole psychiatric/self help industry says it's your fault if you feel bad. I feel bad because Evil is winning and there isn't a thing I can do about it. I've tried but I have zero influence on anything.
I am going through divorce and am an immigrant. My ex is playing real bad mind games with me. It has sucked for the past 4 months. I don’t feel like living anymore. What’s the point? Constant trauma, constant disappointment and constant fear of being kicked out ! It’s just difficult to live like this.
This is me to an extent. I'll have these thoughts where I believe I am better off dead and that no one will miss me at all if I was to die. Lately, my mental health has been so bad I'm in the state that I want to die, but at the same time, I don't want to. It's a constant battle almost every day.
I am me. I don't like my male parent.
I am in my 40s.
I feel like I want to go crazy.
You mentioned your male parent...
I don't know me. He took me away and threw me away,
Are you sick?
Yea. I can't have friends.
I live at a shelter.
Why do I let myself beat?
I feel frustrated, stuck.
If I call a crisis line, they won't change my problem.
So what can we do?
I feel alone. I really want my mother.
So go to her.
Can't. J hate living here.
I live outside of Toronto. I hate how people are here.
I don't have a place to go. I don't know how to do things.
My male parent made me a person who listens to his parents and brother.
I turned into a piece of crap.
I just am frustrated. I want to figure this out, j feel alone. People here don't care about people.
It's so humiliating. That's how I become mental. I just want to laugh have a good time!
These guys, it's like..." please why do you smile and care? We don't iike that. "
I feel embarrassed, like I should feel bad for loving. What kind of people live here.
I have nobody.
I wish my mom knew that her sick man messed up my niece and nephew.
He did sick stuff to them.
I can't handle this. My mom can use my help. I wish I could get things done.
Who will listen to me, help.
Southern Ontario is a sick kind of people.
You should want to help each other out.
This is not a good thing.
I want to heal from my trauma..
I feel like losing it.
That's me.
I hate my life here.
Don't know where to go and who..
Thanks,
James
I have been there before. I know you will live and get better. Why? Because you are not dead yet. Come grab my hand we do this together.
I am in the closet as being transgender in high school, for PE we can’t wear jumpers or anything so i can’t hide my chest and i physically can’t go on like this. I don’t want to die but i can’t live like this. I don’t have the courage to tell anyone, not even my parents and i don’t know what to do. I’m counting down the years for the end of high school but i don’t know if i can wait that long,
I was the same way friend. I want to be able to come out myself but need to get stronger first. Fight Fight Fight. I have been in the cage 3 times and it is not a problem for me anymore. I won't go back to the cage because I am stronger eternally.
Hiding, for now, maybe your only option but once you are done with high school you will be able to make it. I promise.
iv had attemped suiscide several times I dont want to die others depend on me but I cant go on like this night after night doctors that treated me for years in 2009 shot himself the rituals of dealing with nictophilia and PD and ILD hating my self for weakness
Hey Dan, I'm so sorry you're in so much pain. As you read in the article, I understand to a certain extent. Sometimes it's just all too much and we don't see how it's ever going to get better. Are you seeing a new doctor yet? I've found that the best way for me to manage my suicidal ideation is with lots of therapy and the right medications. I know those things aren't always right for everyone, but from my personal experience, I have to recommend them. But reaching out on sites like HealthPlace is a great idea too. You aren't alone Dan, I promise.