What Is a Suicide Safety Plan and How Do You Make One?

A suicide safety plan is a short, written, personal plan for getting through a suicidal crisis. It usually lists your warning signs, things you can do on your own, people and places that help, people you can ask for help, professionals and crisis lines such as 988, and steps to make your surroundings safer. You make it when you are calmer, ideally with a clinician or someone you trust. This article explains each step and when to call 911.

What a Suicide Safety Plan Is

A suicide safety plan is a written set of steps you can follow when suicidal thoughts get stronger. It is meant to be used in the moment, when thinking clearly is hard, so the decisions are made ahead of time and written down. Many plans fit on a single page or a phone note.

A safety plan is different from a "no-suicide contract" or a promise to stay safe. It does not ask you to guarantee anything. It gives you a list of specific things to try, in order, and a list of people to reach if the first steps are not enough. It also does not replace treatment. It works alongside therapy, medication when a prescriber recommends it, and ongoing support.

Anyone can write one, including people who have never attempted suicide but have had thoughts of it, people leaving a hospital or emergency department, and people who are worried about a family member. Suicidal thoughts are a symptom that can come with depression, bipolar disorder and other conditions described by MedlinePlus (NIH) in its suicide overview, and they can also follow loss, trauma, substance use or a major life stress. They can change over hours or days, which is one reason a plan prepared in advance can be useful.

How to Make a Suicide Safety Plan, Step by Step

Many clinicians use a stepwise format with about six parts. You can write yours by hand, in a notes app, or on a printed form, and a counselor, therapist or primary care clinician can walk through it with you. The wording should be yours. Use your own words, real names and real phone numbers.

Step 1: Write down your warning signs

List the thoughts, moods, situations or behaviors that tell you a crisis may be building. Examples include feeling trapped, a sense of being a burden, sleeping very little, drinking or using drugs more, pulling away from people, or a specific anniversary or argument. Be concrete. "I start thinking everyone would be better off without me" is more useful than "feeling bad."

Step 2: List coping steps you can do alone

These are things that may take the edge off without needing anyone else. Some people take a walk, shower, listen to a particular playlist, hold ice, do paced breathing, pet an animal, or watch a comfort show. Pick activities that have helped before, and keep them simple enough to do when you feel exhausted. Substances are usually best left off this list because alcohol and drugs can make impulsive actions more likely.

Step 3: Name people and places that give you a healthy distraction

This step is about being around others, not about talking about the crisis. Examples are a coffee shop, a library, a place of worship, a park, a gym, or a friend's house. List a few people and places, with phone numbers where they apply. You do not have to tell anyone what you are going through for this step to help.

Step 4: List people you can ask for help

Write the names and numbers of two or three people you trust and could tell, "I am having thoughts of suicide and I need help." These can be family, friends, a mentor or a faith leader. Choose people who are likely to answer and who can stay calm. It helps to ask them ahead of time whether they are willing to be on your plan, so the call in a crisis is not a surprise.

Step 5: List professionals and crisis services

Include your therapist, psychiatrist or primary care clinician, with their office and after-hours numbers. Add the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline: you can call or text 988, or use chat, at any hour. Press 2 to reach Spanish-language support. Veterans can call 988 and press 1. Also add the address of the nearest emergency department and the number 911.

Step 6: Make your surroundings safer

This step is often the one that matters most, and it is covered in the next section. It means putting time and distance between you and anything you could use to hurt yourself.

Making Your Environment Safer

Suicidal crises can be intense and may pass, sometimes quickly. Reducing easy access to a method during that stretch can give the feeling time to ease. This is often called lethal means safety, and it is a standard part of safety planning.

• Firearms: Many safety plans suggest storing firearms away from the home during a crisis, for example with a trusted friend or relative or at a licensed storage location, or at minimum locked and unloaded with ammunition stored separately. A clinician can help you think through options that fit your situation, including the laws where you live.
• Medicines: Keep only the amount you currently need, and consider having someone else hold or lock up extra supplies, including over-the-counter pain relievers such as acetaminophen. Ask your pharmacist or prescriber whether smaller fills make sense for your medicines. Do not change how you take a prescribed medicine on your own. Ask the prescriber first.
• Other methods: If there are specific objects or places you have thought about, tell your clinician or a trusted person so the plan can address them directly.
• Alcohol and drugs: These can lower inhibition and worsen mood, so many plans include steps to limit access during a crisis.

Asking a friend or family member to help with this step is not a sign of weakness. It is a practical way to add distance, and many people find it easier than doing it alone.

Using the Plan When a Crisis Hits

Keep the plan where you can reach it quickly: a photo on your phone, a copy in your wallet, a note on the fridge. Share a copy with the people on it, so they know their role.

When you notice a warning sign, start at Step 2 and move down the list until you feel safer. You do not have to finish each step before moving on. If you notice the thoughts getting stronger, skip ahead. Contacting someone on the list, calling or texting 988, or going to an emergency department are all reasonable at any point.

If you have already taken something, are holding or reaching for a weapon, or feel you may act on suicidal thoughts right now, do not work through the plan alone. Call 911. If you took pills or another substance, Poison Control (1-800-222-1222) can also advise, but call 911 first if the person is drowsy, hard to wake, having trouble breathing or having a seizure.

When Is a Safety Plan Enough, and When Is It Not?

Clinicians combine your history, current thoughts, any plan or intent, access to means, and other risk factors when deciding what level of care fits. A safety plan can be a useful tool for thoughts of suicide without immediate intent. It is not enough by itself when someone has a specific plan and the means, has already harmed themselves, or cannot stay safe. Those situations call for emergency care.

Some features may suggest higher risk and are worth telling a clinician about promptly: a recent attempt, a plan with a method and a time, giving away belongings, saying goodbye, a sudden calm after a long period of distress, heavy substance use, or a recent major loss. One of these alone does not establish that someone will act, but together they deserve an urgent conversation. Our guide to the warning signs of a mental health crisis covers what to look for and where to get help.

Making a Safety Plan With or For Someone Else

If someone you love has talked about suicide, asking directly is generally considered safe and does not plant the idea. You can say, "Are you having thoughts of suicide?" and listen without arguing or trying to fix everything. Then offer to help build a plan together, and encourage them to involve their clinician.

• Let the person write it in their own words. A plan someone helped create is more likely to feel usable than one handed to them.
• Offer to be one of the contacts only if you can be reachable, and be honest about what you can and cannot do.
• Offer to help with the environment step, such as holding medicines or helping arrange firearm storage, if they want that help.
• Call or text 988 yourself for advice on how to support them. You do not need to be the one in crisis to use it.

For teens, parents and guardians are often part of the plan. MedlinePlus describes warning signs and treatment options on its teen depression page, and a pediatrician or mental health professional can help a family put a plan in writing. Teens may also tell a school counselor, who can help connect the family with care.

Keeping the Plan Current

Review the plan after any crisis, after a medication change, or when your life changes. Phone numbers change, relationships shift, and some coping steps stop working. Update it with your therapist or prescriber at regular visits so it keeps matching how you actually cope.

Treatment for the underlying condition matters too. Depression, bipolar disorder, anxiety, trauma-related conditions and substance use disorders are all associated with suicidal thinking, and treatment can reduce symptoms. MedlinePlus lists these on its pages about mood disorders and mental disorders. Some antidepressants carry a boxed warning, the strongest type of label warning, about increased suicidal thoughts and behaviors in children, teens and young adults, so a prescriber monitors closely after starting or changing one. Tell the prescriber about any new or worsening mood changes, and do not stop a medicine without checking with them first.

Finally, a plan does not have to be perfect. A short plan with three coping steps, two phone numbers and 988 is much more useful than a long plan that never gets written.

When to Seek Medical Care