How to Develop a Personal Safety Plan

What is a Safety Plan?

A safety plan is a tool used when you feel yourself entering a crisis, to stop it before it escalates. It is exactly as it sounds: a plan to keep yourself safe. A safety plan usually entails coping skills, places, and people that are a comfort to you. The goal of this plan is to provide a guaranteed course of action to get yourself somewhere safe. By having the plan written out before a crisis, you are removing the need for critical thinking and problem solving. Instead, you just have to enact the plan. This sort of simplicity is useful when someone is in a mental health crisis. 

How to Build a Safety Plan

Building your own safety plan is relatively simple, but it can still help to have a mental health professional like a therapist there to guide you through it. A therapist will know what questions to ask and can help you if you get stuck. 

This is what a safety plan will look like:

Let’s explore the different sections. 

Warning Signs that a Crisis is Developing

Knowing your warning signs is important. If you can catch a crisis before it occurs, you can walk yourself down from emotional overwhelm and stay under your threshold, where you are able to stay safe. 

Some professionals recommend splitting warning signs into internal and external signs. Internal warning signs could include (but are certainly not limited to): 

• Feeling especially down or sad
• Brain fogged or dissociated 
• Looping, obsessive thoughts
• Sleeping too much or too little
• Feeling frantic or on edge
• Jumpy, nervous, or feel like you can’t calm down. 
• Frequent anxiety or panic attacks. 
• The urge to self-harm.
• Thinking about death.
• Feeling worthless or guilty

External warning signs are behaviors that other people may notice and can include:

• Increased use of alcohol or drugs
• Withdrawing from activities
• Isolating from family and friends
• Sleeping too much or too little
• Visiting or calling people to say goodbye
• Giving away prized possessions
• Aggression

Make these warning signs personal to you. For example, if you know that seeing a certain family member is a trigger for you, you might put visiting them on this list. Or, if you always watch a certain movie or listen to a specific song when things are getting bad again, making a note of that will help you be aware of your patterns and get ahead of potential crises.

Coping Skills to Distract and Soothe

You’ve identified some warning signs of a looming crisis. But how do you stop it? The next few steps are things you can do before a crisis to walk yourself down from one. The first step is to utilize some coping skills, which are behaviors that calm, soothe, and help you cope. These should be simple, accessible behaviors that you can do by yourself. For example:

• Watching a favorite TV show. 
• Listening to music.
• Engaging in a hobby
• Going for a walk. 
• Cuddling with a pet. 
• Eating sour candy. 
• Taking a cold shower. 
• Breathing exercises or meditation. 

Only put coping skills on this list if you think you will use them. For example, not everyone enjoys meditation. For some people, it can push them further into a crisis. If something doesn’t work for you, that’s okay. Use what does. 

Places to Go Where You Feel Safe

The next step is to remove yourself from dangerous situations and put yourself somewhere safe. Ideally, this space will be somewhere around other people, so that if your crisis escalates, there will be people to help you. This could be a comforting, public space or someone’s house. For example:

• A movie theater.
• A coffee shop. 
• Your friend’s house. 
• A favorite park or trail system. 
• A library. 

Choose places that are comfortable and easy to get to. For example, if you need to take a 30-minute bus ride, you might not want to put that place on your safety plan, because taking a bus ride might be further triggering. 

People You Can Ask for Help

Next, make a list of people you can trust and whom you can reach out to help for. These should be people who are aware of a safety plan and who can help you. They could be:

• A friend
• A family member
• A mentor or teacher
• A coworker 
• Your therapist

Anyone else who makes you feel safe and who can and is willing to help you. 

Professionals to Reach Out To

Next, you’ll want to have a list of phone numbers you can call in case the crisis escalates and you need professional help now. Some common hotlines are:

• Call or Text 988
• The Trevor Project: Text “Start” to 678-678
• Domestic abuse hotline: Text “Start” to 88788
• Crisis hotline: Text “Home” to 741741 

It’s also a good idea to have the numbers of local crisis centers and hospitals. Ask your therapist for more information about places in your area. 

How to Make Your Environment Safe

Lastly, make a list of ways you can make your environment safe. (Or, if you’ve already moved to a safer place, how you can make it more safe.)

This might include things like surrounding yourself with comfortable, soothing things and removing items that could hurt you (sharp objects, etc.). If you had a plan to hurt yourself, have someone remove any items central to that plan. Most people who contemplate suicide do not go through with it if they do not have the means to accomplish their initial plan.

Don’t Wait: Get Support Now

The best thing you can do for your mental health is to be proactive about it. Get help now for mental health issues and begin implementing healthy coping skills and behaviors. Taking medication, if possible, and pursuing treatment are good ways to prevent a crisis. 

If you have questions or want to meet with a therapist, contact our support team. 

Lifebulb is not a crisis center. If you are experiencing a crisis, contact 911 or one of the above hotlines. 

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