This last Thursday, Haley shared with us her reminder of how important it is that we have a current and updated Safety Plan.  A safety plan is used to make sure that you are ready to handle a mental health crisis.  She shared that your plan should be updated about every six months.  Remember that if you are having a crisis, your brain may not be working very well during that time. 

When a good safety plan is put together , you should be able to use each one of the steps in your plan to help yourself get through a crisis. 

It’s important to keep your plan updated, as your warning signs that you are in a crisis can change over time.  Haley shared that you can create a special code word that you can share with those who you may ask for help from during a crisis.  You can then advise those people on your list of contacts that if you call them at any time and you should mention that code word, that should let them know you’re going through a crisis. 

She also handed out a safety plan form where we could fill out this important information. 

Some of the questions on this form that should be a part of your safety plan were:

1) Write three warning signs that a crisis may be developing.

2) Write three internal coping strategies that can take your mind off of your problems.

3) Who/What are three people or places that provide distraction.

4) Who can you ask for help?  ( write name/place and phone numbers)

5) List professionals or agencies you can contact during a crisis.

6) Write out a plan to make your environment safer.  ( write two things)

     If you don’t already have a safety plan in place, it’s important that we all have one completed and at the ready should a mental health crisis arise.  I am working on rewriting mine again as we speak.