Hopelessness

It is because of Yahweh’s loving kindnesses that we are not consumed, because his compassion doesn’t fail. They are new every morning. Great is your faithfulness.
Lamentations 3:22-23 · WEB

If you are thinking about ending your life, please call or text 988. It is free, and it is answered.

Find support near me What can I do right now?

If you're feeling this

If you have got to the point where you cannot see forward at all, please make one call before you read any further. 988, by phone or text. You do not have to be in danger this minute and you do not have to be certain of anything.

Hopelessness is not the same as sadness. It is the loss of the sense that anything ahead could be different — and it is a symptom, not a fact about the future. It lies specifically about how permanent it is.

You are not being dramatic. You are not wasting anyone's time. People come back from exactly here, including people who were completely certain they would not.

Scripture

Scripture for this moment

Open the one that matches where you are. You don't have to read them all.

When you cannot see forward
Why are you in despair, my soul? Why are you disturbed within me? Hope in God! For I shall still praise him for the saving help of his presence.

Psalm 42:5 · WEB

Why are you in despair, my soul? He asks and does not receive an answer in the verse. Then he speaks to himself anyway. Some days that is the whole of what is available.

When you are not exaggerating
I am not at ease, neither am I quiet, neither have I rest; but trouble comes.”

Job 3:26 · WEB

I am not at ease, nor am I quiet, nor do I have rest; but trouble comes. Job's despair is recorded at length and God never rebukes him for the honesty of it.

When you are at the bottom
Out of the depths I have cried to you, Yahweh.

Psalm 130:1 · WEB

Out of the depths I have cried to you. The prayer is made from the depths, not from having climbed out first. You can pray from exactly where you are.

When you have nothing left
But those who wait for Yahweh will renew their strength. They will mount up with wings like eagles. They will run, and not be weary. They will walk, and not faint.

Isaiah 40:31 · WEB

Read the whole progression: mount up, then run, then walk and not faint. It ends on walking, which is the honest promise. Some seasons the goal is walking without collapsing.

When you need hope
Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope, in the power of the Holy Spirit.

Romans 15:13 · WEB

The God of hope. Hope here is something given rather than manufactured by trying harder to feel it. Asking for it is a legitimate prayer.

Practical

What can I do right now?

Start with the first one. If that's all you manage today, that counts.

  1. Call or text 988 now

    Free, confidential, 24/7. You do not have to be about to act. Thinking about it is reason enough, and they would rather hear from you early.

  2. Tell one person tonight

    Say the actual words. "I am not safe" or "I have been thinking about not being here." It is very hard to say and it is the thing that changes the night.

  3. Put distance between you and the means

    Give the pills, the gun, the keys to someone else tonight. Not forever — tonight. This single step saves more lives than any other.

  4. Do not be alone

    Go to someone's house, or ask someone to come. If there is nobody, an emergency room is a legitimate place to go and they will not turn you away.

  5. Plan only the next hour

    Not tomorrow, not the rest of your life. One hour, then the next. Hopelessness works by making you responsible for a future you cannot see.

  6. Eat, drink water, and try to sleep

    It sounds insulting when everything is this heavy. It is also true that this state gets measurably worse without them.

  7. See a doctor this week

    Hopelessness this deep is usually treatable, and treatment works. This is not a matter of trying harder.

Support

You don't have to face this alone

Please use one of these today. They exist for exactly this, they are free, and the people answering are not shocked by anything you might say.

If you need help right now

Professional support

Church and pastoral support

Community and support groups

Organisations that specialise in this

These organisations are independent of Boro Collective. We list them because they do this work well, not because we are connected to them.

Community

Find community near you

Faith and practical help are not competing ideas. A church, a counsellor and a support group can all be part of the same week.

Looking for something besides a church?

We don't keep our own directory, so this opens a map search you can scan yourself. We would rather send you somewhere real than list a church we cannot vouch for.

Foundations

Build your foundation

No one of these carries a life on its own. They hold together.

  • Safety

    Nothing else on this list works in a place that is not safe. If you are being hurt or threatened, safety comes before every other step here — including forgiveness.

  • Professional support

    Seeing a counsellor is not a failure of faith any more than seeing a doctor about a broken arm is. Some things need a trained person.

  • Community

    Not an audience — a handful of people who would notice if you went quiet for a fortnight. Most of us have to build that on purpose.

  • Faith

    Honest prayer counts more than eloquent prayer. Scripture read slowly counts more than Scripture read fast. A pastor who knows your name is worth more than any of it.

  • Physical health

    Almost every emotion is louder on no sleep and an empty stomach. This is not the whole answer, and it is never nothing.

You are not alone.

You do not have to see the whole way forward. You only have to get to tomorrow, and you do not have to do that on your own.

Please make one call. 988, right now.

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