What are suicidal thoughts?

Suicidal thoughts are when someone feels so sad or overwhelmed that they think about not being around anymore.

Imagine you have a favorite toy that always makes you happy, maybe it's a teddy bear, a race car, or a robot. Now imagine that toy gets broken, and no matter how hard you try to fix it, it doesn’t get better. You might feel really sad, even upset, because the thing that made you happy is gone.

Suicidal thoughts are like that, but instead of a broken toy, it's something inside your head that feels too heavy or too much for you to handle right now. It’s like thinking “I wish I could just disappear” or “I don’t want to feel this way anymore.”

Sometimes people have these thoughts when they're going through really hard times, like when everything seems bad, and it's hard to see a way out.

But just because someone has suicidal thoughts doesn't mean they'll do anything about them. It’s more like thinking about leaving a room you don’t want to be in, sometimes you leave, sometimes you stay, but the thought is real.