When Jenna experiences suicidal thoughts, she has a safety plan on her phone that helps her get through

For Jenna Rositani, it was the persistent barking of her normally shy and quiet dog Vinnie that kept her from taking her own life.

Thinking about who was going to take care of him, feed him and love him, convinced her that she needed to move on.

Something also changed for the long term of 33 years.

“I guess after that day I had to make a real commitment to myself that I would do everything in my power, I would try anything and everything, to live. To choose to live,” she said.

“And yes, it’s a battle. It’s not a battle every day anymore, but it’s fighting for your life all the time.”

One of the things that helps her in that battle is a suicide security plan.

Research shows that the most intense suicidal thoughts can pass over a period of time ranging from minutes to days.

A suicide safety plan is a practical and personalized tool designed to help people get through this period.

Jenna, who lives on the outskirts of Melbourne, uses an app on her phone to remind herself of her own warning signs: forgetting to shower, withdrawing and communicating only by text.

It reminds you to get everything you can use to hurt yourself out of your house and get closer to your loved ones.

It reminds her to continue in memory of her brother Luke, who committed suicide in 2015, two months after their father died of bone cancer.

And for comic relief, it reminds her that she wants to get on a family member she doesn’t particularly like.

“That’s one of my reasons, to survive it,” he laughs.

“I haven’t experienced the black hole for quite some time… like a real funky black hole.”

She says the plan empowers not only herself, but also her mother and wife, who have a copy.

“It kind of takes away the awkwardness of communicating those things to me. Because it’s almost like saying ‘Well, no, it’s actually written here, here it is. I’ve given you permission.'” [to talk about it],” she said.

“And I haven’t come across anything else like it.”

“We make a lot of plans to stay safe”

Grace Sholl, 20, from Logan, near Brisbane, likens it to having a plan in case of a fire.

“It’s the same way you drive anything…the same way you make a plan about who’s the designated driver tonight. You know, who’s going to watch the drinks to make sure we’re safe?” she said.

“We make a lot of plans to keep ourselves safe…it’s like that.”

Grace has had suicidal thoughts for most of her life, first when she was eight years old and they got much worse in her teens.

It was a school counselor who asked her a simple question: “What can we do to keep you safe right now?”

He wasn’t going to fix everything, but he was aiming to keep her alive.

Grace’s plan has a list of loved ones and organizations you can call, reminders to sit in the sun with your cat and enjoy your mother’s beautiful garden.

“I’m pretty rational… but at that moment all you can think about is how much it hurts. You’re overwhelmed by your own pain, the depth of it.”

“It’s a reminder that there are some little things in life that give it meaning.”

Safety plans can ‘reduce the intensity of suicidal thoughts’

Despite a broader conversation about suicide and more money for mental health services in the last 10 years, suicide rates have increased by 15 percent.

Annual deaths by suicide exceed the toll roads.

Beyond Blue CEO Georgie Harman said most people experiencing suicidal thoughts who came to the organization for help were unaware of safe suicide planning, even though it was a prevention tool. verified.

“Research shows that people can actually reduce the intensity of suicidal thoughts by using a safety plan,” he said.

“And that’s the point where we have to intervene, we have to put practical tools in people’s hands.”

She says that people with suicidal ideation won’t necessarily have other mental health problems.

“The three biggest risk factors, for example, are a history of attempted or self-harm in an individual, but also very significant relationship breakdown…poverty, drug and alcohol use…insecure employment, you know, loss of work, that kind of thing,” he said.

“That’s why suicide is not just a health or mental health problem, it’s a problem that affects all parts of our lives.”

Conversations can ‘protect someone’s life’

Both Grace and Jenna encourage people at risk of suicide to make a plan.

And they encourage family and friends of people who are struggling to tackle the problem head-on.

“You know, I’ve had people say the wrong things [to me] in the past, but at least they recognized that he was suicidal, they recognized that he was in pain,” Grace said.

“Just sit back and say, ‘Well, what can we do? How would you like us to support you?'”