How understanding suicide prevention tools can help you achieve your goals

If you lived in a place with advanced healthcare in the 2000s and mentioned suicide to your psychiatrist, the first thing they would suggest is to sign a no-suicide contract with them. The contract is a document that states that you will not commit suicide before calling 911 or a helpline. Somehow the psychiatrist community in the 2000s believed that this would work. It didn’t, so the practice was gradually abolished by the medical community. We have since learned that what actually helps to prevent suicide is talking about it.

Apparently, when you talk about your intention to anyone else, you are less likely to do what you intended. It does not matter if the intent is “I want to commit suicide,” “I want to lose weight,” “I want to change careers,” or “I want to marry Maria.” As soon as you talk about your plans to someone else and they give you some sort of reaction, your brain produces the same chemicals as if you achieved your goal. The more people you tell, the more endorphins are released, and the less likely you are to follow through with your plans. That is why asking other people to hold you accountable or even posting about your goals on social media won’t help.

In Russian, we have a saying “Happiness loves peace,” meaning that if your family is happy, don’t talk about it, or else you’ll jinx it. With goals, it’s similar. If you intend on achieving something, don’t tell too many people. Instead, share the news after your achievement.

On the other hand, if you are fearing doing something in the future, whether it’s relapsing, committing suicide, or calling your ex — talk about it.