A useful safety plan is personal to you.
It might include:
My warning signs
What tells me that things are beginning to become more difficult?
For example:
- withdrawing from people;
- sleeping much more or much less;
- feeling increasingly hopeless;
- stopping attending University;
- increased self-harm urges;
- drinking or using substances more;
- repeatedly thinking that people would be better without me;
- another change that you recognise in yourself.
Things I can do first
What sometimes helps you get through a difficult period?
This might include:
- going somewhere where you feel safer;
- distracting yourself;
- being around other people;
- going for a walk;
- listening to something;
- grounding techniques;
- another activity that works for you.
People who help me feel connected
Who could you contact?
This might be:
- a friend;
- partner;
- family member;
- housemate;
- another trusted person.
Professional and crisis support
What services could you contact if you needed additional help?
The University's current mental health guidance includes NHS 111, emergency services, and the Staying Safe resource, alongside other support.
What I will do if I cannot keep myself safe
This should be very clear.
For example:
If I believe I may act on suicidal thoughts or I cannot keep myself safe, I will call 999 or go to an Emergency Department.
A Safety Plan Should Be Practical
A safety plan is more useful when you have actually thought through how you would use it.
Where possible, do not simply write:
“Call a helpline.”
You might instead:
- save the number into your phone;
- look at the service website;
- find out when it is available;
- understand what the service can and cannot provide;
- make a trial call where appropriate;
- save a trusted person's number;
- decide where you will keep your safety plan;
- practise finding it on your phone.
The more familiar the plan is, the easier it may be to use when you are distressed.
University Staff Should Not Be Your Crisis Plan
Your safety plan may include University support, but it should not rely on a named member of University staff being available in a crisis.
A lecturer, personal tutor, Safeguarding practitioner or Mental Health & Wellbeing practitioner may care deeply about your wellbeing, but they cannot provide guaranteed 24-hour availability.
Your crisis plan should therefore include support that is available when you may actually need it, including appropriate NHS or emergency routes.
University Security may also form part of your emergency plan when you are on University premises.
Trusted Contacts
You may also want to identify somebody you trust who could support you if things became more difficult.
This does not have to be your formal next of kin.
It could be:
- a family member;
- partner;
- friend;
- housemate;
- colleague;
- another trusted person.
A useful safety plan may record:
who they are → how to contact them → what you would like them to know → what you would like them to do if you become very distressed.
You can talk with Safeguarding about whether and when you would want a Trusted Contact involved.
Safety Planning and Access to Means
If you have already identified a particular way in which you might harm yourself or end your life, it can be important to think collaboratively about how access to that specific means can be reduced.
This is not about introducing methods you have not thought about or asking you to discuss unnecessary detail.
It is about making the immediate environment safer in relation to something you have already identified.
Wolverhampton’s suicide-mitigation approach has specifically included collaborative safety planning and consideration of reducing access to identified means.