This is a plan thought up by my sister and she is a cancer survivor. It helped her thru her worst pain.
SASSY is an acronym for Suicide Alternative Strategy- Save Yourself

This is completely her own invention and she has been using this to keep from being hospitalized and is not found in any medical book or journal. I dont know if it is a heathy way to handle this or not but it is legal and works for some of us. It is a stop gap measure only and should be followed by a visit to the shrink or doctor.

Go straight to bed. If you have someone who depends on you then arrange for their care.
Unplug the phone, call in sick to work and school, do not get up for anything except your own personal needs. This means bathroom, get a drink, nibble a cracker ect. If you were dead your loved ones would get through without you. Your bills wouldnt get paid, cook dinner, chop wood, study, take out the trash, ect.
You have the ability to not be available.
No one has the right to need you right now.
You have the responsiblity to take care of youself.
No one can help you but you.
If, after laying there awhile, you cant take it still then get up, phone the paramedics, say your address and the language you speak if applicable. (for me this is since I live in Denmark)
Write that down and post it near the phone. That way you dont forget in a pain frenzy.
Print this out and post it for your housemates so they know they are not to blame and what is going on. They need to know you are not mad at them you are just not available for awhile.

Go to bed, unplug the phone and sleep or read if you can. You need to get lost in a world that isnt your own.

Last ditch strategies for survival yes but they sure beat suicide.

Let people know when you are operating under this principle so they dont worry. And then let them know when you are done.

Tell them you love them and this is for them too.
Obviously this wont work for everyone but it helps my sister and me and we hope it will help others.
Sophia

I don't think Sophia's sister is promoting suicide.  In fact the title says alternative. 

-Dennis-

Sophia wrote on Jun 24^th, 2008 at 5:54am:


To the contrary I think we should keep the thought foremost in our minds, losing one of our people is one to many.
We need to be able to recognise the signs before a person gets to that point & help wherever we can.
A person who takes their life will never know the relief of pain as they are no longer here to find out, it’s the pain they leave behind that lasts a hell of a lot longer & that pain lives deep inside the loved ones left behind.

I applaud your sister for taking the line she is but what concerns me is the isolation one puts themselves into by hiding away & giving themselves more time to think alone & perhaps become despondent; it’s the hidden signs of depression & desperation that we don’t see & if we can’t see it we can’t help.

If my first response sounded blunt then I apologise but that’s the way I look at life & I do understand you are not promoting suicide but more importantly trying to help prevent it.

Kind Regards
Barry