One of the most important things we want our University community to understand is:
You do not have to wait until you are suicidal to have a safety plan.
A safety plan is simply a practical plan for what you will do if life becomes difficult.
You can create one if:
- you have experienced suicidal thoughts before;
- you currently experience passive or active thoughts;
- you self-harm;
- your mental health sometimes deteriorates;
- you know there are certain times when you struggle;
- you have never experienced suicidal thoughts but want to know what you would do if you ever did.
The University has promoted safety planning as part of a wider preventative approach for many years. Wolverhampton’s work has specifically focused on co-creating an appropriate level of safety planning and response across the University community rather than reserving it only for specialist mental health services.