Most people have thought about killing themselves at one, or more, times in their lives.

As a counselor I have often been asked to give someone one good reason to go on living.  The problem with that question is what one person thinks is a good reason to live will not seem good enough to another person.

In 1983 the Journal of Counseling and Clinical Psychology (Vol 51, No 2) published a study conducted by Linehan, Goodstein, Nielsen & Chiles which contained a list of reasons people gave for continuing to live when they were considering suicide.

Here is the list of reasons people gave in that study.  Some of them may give you food for thought or a reason to live you never thought about before.  I hope so.  Reason number one is the reason I would most encourage you to work towards making your own.

You may have reasons not listed here; reasons you think might help someone carry on living in the face of despair. 

1. I care enough about myself to live
2. I believe I can find other solutions to my problems
3. I still have many things left to do
4. I have hope that things will improve and the future will be happier
5. I have the courage to face life
6. I want to experience all that life has to offer and there are many experiences I haven’t had yet which I want to have
7. I believe everything has a way of working out for the best
8. I believe I can find a purpose in life, a reason to live
9. I have a love of life
10. No matter how badly I feel I know that it will not last
11. Life is too beautiful and precious to end it
12. I am happy and content with my life
13. I am curious about what will happen in the future
14. I see no reason to hurry death along
15. I believe I can learn to adjust or cope with my problems
16. I believe killing myself would not really accomplish or solve anything
17. I have a desire to live
18. I am too stable to kill myself
19. I have future plans I am looking forward to carrying out
20. I do not believe that things get miserable or hopeless enough that I would rather be dead
21. I do not want to die
22. Life is all we have and is better than nothing
23. I believe I have control over my life and destiny
24. It would hurt my family too much and I would not want them to suffer
25. I would not want my family to feel guilty afterwards
26. I would not want my family to think I was selfish or a coward
27. My family depends on me and needs me
28. I love and enjoy my family too much and could not leave them
29. My family might believe I did not love them
30. I have a responsibility and commitment to my family
31. The effect on my children could be harmful
32. It would not be fair to leave the children for others to take care of
33. I want to watch my children as they grow
34. I am afraid of the actual “act” of killing myself (the pain, blood, violence)
35. I am a coward and do not have the guts to do it
36. I am so inept that my method would not work
37. I am afraid that my method of killing myself would fail
38. I am afraid of the unknown
39. I am afraid of death
40. I could not decide where, when and how to do it
41. Other people would think I am weak and selfish
42. I would not want people to think I did not have control over my life
43. I am concerned about what others would think of me
44. My religious beliefs forbid it
45. I believe only God has the right to end a life
46. I consider it morally wrong
47. I am afraid of going to hell

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