In this discussion some of the self-protective capacities needed to keep out of suicide danger are identified as: 1) Capacity to bear painful affect without ego-regression, 2) Capacity to maintain important relationships in the face of emotional stress, 3) Capacity to tell the difference between fact & fantasy in the face of emotional stress, 4) Capacity to love others more than to take pleasure in tormenting them, & 5) Capacity to maintain hope in the context of fairly intense emotional suffering. (8 refs)