Trauma to Strength

Trauma to Strength

The Bad Day Protocol Part 1: The Truth About Suicidal Thinking

Why you don’t have to die, even when it feels like the only option.

Leon Macfayden's avatar
Leon Macfayden
Jun 04, 2025
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Image courtesy of Keith Fey

Welcome to Part 1 of my new course, “The Bad Day Protocol”. This is a course for emergencies. It’ll teach you how to stay alive, even when you don’t want to.

This course, and future courses like it, are exclusively for paid Subscribers. To upgrade to a paid subscription, click the button below:


Most people think suicidal thoughts mean you want to die.

They don’t.

For 25 years, I’ve been helping people who feel suicidal. None of them wanted to die.

They just wanted the pain to stop—the guilt and noise, the heaviness that comes from being misunderstood, the alienation of being “too much” for the people you love.

These thoughts aren’t weakness or attention-seeking.

They’re caused by pain and hopelessness.


3 Lies Your Brain Tells You on the Worst Days

When you’re at rock bottom, your brain turns into a liar. Below are the main lies it’ll tell you, and the truth:

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