The Nature of Suicide

This center is intended to educate readers about the nature of suicide. If you are seriously considering committing suicide right now, you don't need education about the nature of suicide. If you know that you will harm yourself unless something happens very shortly to stop you from doing so - PLEASE take the following step right now:
- If you are in the United States, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255. If you are in another country, you can find a local suicide helpline here.
- Get to the nearest emergency room and tell the admitting staff there that you are "acutely suicidal."
- If you cannot get yourself safely to the emergency room, call the emergency operator (911 in the United States) and ask for assistance. Again, tell the operator that you are acutely suicidal and require immediate help. <...More
Fast Facts: Learn! Fast!
What is suicide and who is most at risk?
- Within this article, we are referring to suicide in the conventional sense, in which someone plans out or acts upon self-destructive thoughts and feelings, often while they are experiencing overwhelming stress.
- Suicide is the third leading cause of death for adolescents and young adults from age 15-24.
- Suicide victims under the age of 30 are also more likely to have dual diagnoses (a combination of a mental illness and a substance abuse disorder), impulsive and/or aggressive behavior disorders, and legal problems than people over 30 who commit suicide.
- Older Caucasian males (85 years or older) committed suicide at the highest rate of any age group.
- Whites and Native Americans (especially adolescents) have the highest suicide rates than any other ethnic group in the US. In addition, the rate of suicide among young African American males has been steadily increasing.
- Men are more likely to commit suicide than women and men are more likely than women to use highly lethal methods to commit suicide.
- Women are more likely than men to attempt suicide.
- Living alone and being single both increase the risk of suicide. Marriage is associated with lower overall suicide rates; and divorced, separated and widowed people are more likely to commit suicide.
- Being a parent, particularly for mothers, appears to decrease the risk of suicide.
- The Rocky Mountain and Western states have the highest rates of suicide in the U.S.
- Suicide rates are higher in rural areas.
- Industrialized countries generally have higher rates of suicide than non-industrialized countries.
- Religiosity seems to have a protective effect against suicide.
- Unemployment is associated with increased rates of suicide.
- Sixty percent of all suicides are committed by people with mood disorders.
- Approximately 30% of suicides are committed by people who have psychiatric disorders other than mood disorders.
- There is a significantly higher rate of suicide among people who abuse alcohol and/or drugs.
- People who have access to firearms are more likely to commit suicide.
- Emotional insults, such as rejection, public humiliation or shame, may be experienced as painful enough by some people to push them towards suicide.
- Significant grief and loss can also be associated with suicidality.
- People with a family history of suicidal behavior are more likely to attempt or commit suicide.
- People who were abused or neglected as children have a higher risk of suicide than others.
- Victims of domestic violence are at higher risk of suicide than people who have not had this experience.
- People involved in, or arrested for, committing crimes are at higher risk of committing suicide than other people.
What are the causes of or triggers for suicide?
- Suicidal thoughts and behaviors start when vulnerable individuals encounter stressful events, become overwhelmed, and conclude that suicide is the only reasonable way (given their very likely biased way of thinking) to stop the pain they are experiencing.
- Both negative and positive events can be sources of significant stress.
- The most frequent stressful event leading up to suicide in the US today is mental illness, which is estimated to account for about 90 percent of all suicides.
- Depression is the most common mental illness in people who commit suicide.
- Individuals with anxiety disorders may feel overwhelmed, ashamed, or frustrated that they are unable to control their symptoms. Many individuals with severe anxiety symptoms also become socially isolated and/or try to relieve their feelings by using alcohol and/or other substances. These features of anxiety disorders can lead someone to attempt or commit suicide.
- Individuals with PTSD have the highest rate of suicide when compared to all other anxiety disorders. 4 to 10% of people with schizophrenic disorders commit suicide.
- Between 4 and 8% of people with a personality disorder complete suicide, and approximately 40 to 90% have attempted suicide.
What are the warning signs of suicide?
- Having suicidal thoughts is the most important and most common warning sign for suicidality.
- If you/someone regularly focuses on themes of suicide or death in conversation (e.g., talking about giving up on life, or how others would be better off without you), thinking, writing, music or artwork, the person may be at risk.
- Additional warning signs of suicide can include:
- decreased performance in school or work
- an unusual desire for social isolation
- a significant decrease in self-esteem
- increased emotionality (expressed as anger, agitation, anxiety, hopelessness, sadness, or similar emotion)
- a sudden decrease in emotionality; particularly, a movement from depression or agitation to remarkable and uncharacteristic calm
- uncharacteristic behaviors or emotions
- uncharacteristic carelessness concerning personal safety
- increased drug and/or alcohol use
- losing interest in things that someone used to enjoy
- failing to take prescribed medications or follow required diets
- preparing for death by getting one's affairs "in order"
For more information about your own suicide warning signs
For more information about suicide warning signs in another person
What should I do if I'm feeling suicidal?
- If you are presently assembling the means of your own death, the time to go to the hospital so as to prevent yourself from killing yourself is now.
- You need a safe environment to be in for a while where you can be protected from acting upon suicidal urges.
- You may also benefit from medication to calm you, help you sleep or to serve as an anti-depressant.
- Most acute suicidal urges pass, or at least decrease in urgency, after a period of time has gone by, so if you can hold out and not act, there is a very good likelihood that you will shortly feel better.
- It is much easier to hold out and not attempt suicide if you are hospitalized in an environment designed to keep you safe, than if you are out and about in your normal environment.
- Unless you have pre-existing arrangements set up already with a therapist or doctor, the only surefire way to get the care and safe environment you need is to go to a local Emergency Room (ER).
- Go to the hospital immediately if you are acutely suicidal. Recruit a friend to take you if you cannot get yourself there safely.
- As a last resort, you should call the emergency operator who can dispatch an ambulance or police officers to your location. This can be a rather expensive way to go, but if it is the only reasonable way to get yourself to the hospital, then don't let the expense get in your way.
- It may cross your mind to call an emergency telephone crisis line and this is a good idea if you are just feeling vaguely suicidal and want human contact with someone who can help you work through your thoughts.
- If you are acutely and dangerously suicidal, however, calling a crisis line is not the best thing to do, as it will distract you from getting the hands-on assistance you need.
Once an immediate suicidal attempt/urge has been handled and I've gotten help, what can I do to continue to keep myself safe?
- Continue to practice your newly-learned problem solving and adaptive coping skills.
- Go back to your psychotherapist if you need a "tune up" and you find yourself sliding backward into old, negative habits.
- Consider joining a support group and/or using the Internet to remind yourself that you are not alone, obtain new ideas for coping with difficult times, and reach out to other people who need assistance.
- Keep a copy of your anti-suicide plan handy.
- Identify your triggers and develop a list of preventative strategies.
- Follow through with referrals to other resources, such as a substance abuse program or rehabilitation program to help you address addiction issues.
- If you are suicidal and own guns, take steps to get those guns out of your house so that they cannot tempt you.
- Alter the components of your environment that are stressful (as much as possible).
- Reconnect with family and friends who you find supportive to be around, and ask them for help before your next suicidal crisis gets out of hand.
- Make use of crisis telephone hotlines and online support communities.
What can I do to help someone who is suicidal?
- You can help interrupt and help disarm any active suicide attempts and defuse the danger of the immediate crisis situation.
- You can help the suicidal person get connected to a mental health professional who can offer him or her effective support and intervention.
- You can provide ongoing support and "cheerleading" as the person participates in treatment, practices new methods of coping and continues on with the often stressful business of day to day living.
- You must keep in mind that stress effects each person differently, and that just because you might be able to handle something doesn't mean that everyone else can too with similar ease.
- Do what you can to put judgment aside and simply act compassionately.
- Try to provide true assistance by helping the suicidal person find the professional help that he or she needs in order to safely resolve the crisis.
- Having an honest and open conversation about your concerns with regard to medication safety, storage and proper use may help.
- Be sure to remove guns, knives and other lethal weapons from the suicidal person's house or otherwise secure guns and weapons in a manner that makes it inconvenient for the potentially suicidal person to get at them.
- You can help the suicidal person to anticipate likely suicide triggers.
- You can watch for new signs of suicidal thinking (e.g., a suicide relapse), or watch for a worsening of someone's level of suicidality.
- It is also important to keep in mind that despite your best efforts; no matter how helpful and loving you are toward suicidal people, they still may feel badly about themselves and their situation, and they may still ultimately take their life.
How do I handle my own reactions following a suicide or a suicide attempt by a loved one or friend?
- Suicide goes way beyond the pain of the suicidal individual and affects all of the people who care about or who depend upon that suicidal person.
- If you are trying to help a suicidal person to feel better, odds are that you yourself will have a difficult time as well.
- If you have recently lost someone to suicide, odds are that you will be devastated or at least experience a grief reaction for some time.
- Don't underestimate the emotional impact on yourself of the work you do to support someone through a suicidal crisis.
- You may end up feeling angry, guilty, helpless or depressed yourself in the wake of a suicide attempt or a completed suicide.
- You may benefit from speaking with a therapist so as to help work through your powerful emotional reactions.
- Take care to balance the effort you put into supporting the suicidal person with the demands of keeping your own family and work commitments running, and supporting and nurturing your own mental health.
- Don't try to be the sole support for a suicidal person. Instead, enlist the help of competent others around you who can share the load.
- If the situation requires professional intervention, then go about arranging for that professional intervention and do so without feeling guilty.
- While you may need to over-extend yourself during the immediate crisis, don't try to operate that way for an extended period. Make it a priority to recover your normal rhythms as soon as you can.
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Drug Overdose Suicides Rising Among Young Americans and Seniors
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Despite Stress of Pandemic, U.S. Suicide Rate Dropped in 2020
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White House Announces Plan to Reduce Gun Suicides
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Will the Pandemic Surge in Gun Purchases Raise Suicide Rates?
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When Cancer Strikes, Who's at Higher Risk for Suicide?
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Marijuana Use Tied to Higher Odds for Thoughts of Suicide
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ADHD Meds May Help Keep Some Kids From Thoughts of Suicide
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New National Suicide Statistics at a Glance
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Resources
Articles
- The Nature of Suicide
- The Nature of Suicide
- Defining Suicide
- Suicide: A Reactive Action
- Suicide Statistics
- Other Factors Contributing to Suicide Risk
- Suicide Triggers
- Suicide Triggers Continued
- Tying it All Together: Why Does Someone Become Suicidal?
- Becoming Suicidal: Biological Contributions
- Becoming Suicidal: Sociocultural Contributions
- Suicide Prevention and Societal Measures
- Websites
- Coping with Suicidality
- Coping with Suicidality
- How did you get to this suicidal place?
- Why does suicide seem like a solution to your problem(s)?
- How do you know your level of suicide risk?
- Suicide Warning Signs
- Suicide: What Should I Do if I'm Suicidal?
- Suicide: What will happen to you when you ask for help?
- Outpatient Suicide Treatment-Finding A Psychotherapist
- The Initial Suicide Treatment Interview
- Jeremy's Story
- Follow-up Suicide Therapy Visits
- Suicide: Other Things You Can Do to Help Keep Yourself Safe
- Suicide and Self Harm Resources
- Helping A Friend or Family Member who is Suicidal
- Helping a Friend or Family Member Who is Suicidal
- Understanding Suicidal Crises
- Why Do People Become Suicidal and What Can I do to Help?
- How Can I Judge the Level of Suicide Risk?
- What Are Other Suicide Warning Signs?
- What Happens When a Suicidal Person Asks for Help?
- How Do We Find a Therapist for Suicide Outpatient Treatment?
- What Else Can I Do to Help a Suicidal Family Member or Friend?
- How Do I Handle My Own Reactions Following a Suicide or a Suicide Attempt?
- The Nature of Suicide
News
- Suicide Rate Is Spiking Upwards in Preadolescent Children
- Suicides Involving Guns Have Key Differences, Study Shows
- Ketamine May Be Emergency Deterrent for People at Risk of Suicide
- Drug Overdose Suicides Rising Among Young Americans and Seniors
- Many Who Attempt Suicide Not Getting the Care They Need
- Logic's Hit '1-800-273-8255' May Have Saved American Lives
- Despite Stress of Pandemic, U.S. Suicide Rate Dropped in 2020
- White House Announces Plan to Reduce Gun Suicides
- Will the Pandemic Surge in Gun Purchases Raise Suicide Rates?
- Nurses Have Suicidal Thoughts More Often Than Other Workers: Study
- 11 more
- People With Autism at Higher Risk for Suicide, Self-Harm: Study
- When Cancer Strikes, Who's at Higher Risk for Suicide?
- LGBQ Teens More Likely to Contemplate Suicide at Younger Age
- Could You Help Prevent a Suicide? Know the Warning Signs
- People With HIV Have Much Higher Risk for Suicide
- Marijuana Use Tied to Higher Odds for Thoughts of Suicide
- Gun Suicides Are Rising Steeply Among American Youth
- Big Rise in Suicide Attempts by U.S. Teen Girls During Pandemic
- ADHD Meds May Help Keep Some Kids From Thoughts of Suicide
- Teen Boys Who Attempt Suicide More Likely to Abuse as Adults
- New National Suicide Statistics at a Glance
Questions and Answers
- How Can I Convince My Suicidal MD Husband To Be Evaluated?
- No Clue What To Do. Help?
- In A Bad Situation
- When Psychotherapy Does Not Help
- Depression Treatment
- Therapist rights to contact Employer
- Does a therapist have to report me as suicidal if I tell her I self injure?
- OCD
- Will I Ever?
- Self-Injury / Self-Harm: How do I stop cutting myself?
- 32 more
- Psych major wants to get her life back after being raped and attempting suicide
- A Friend in Need
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- hard decision
- My husband won't take his medicine
- What is the point of life?
- Regular thoughts of killing myself
- I'm a cutter and can't remember anything
- Does thinking of suicide lead to suicide?
- I Sometimes Cut
- When To Ask For Suicide Help
- Inability To Express Myself
- Suicidal
- Suicidal Friend
- Suicidal Teen
- Self-Harming Attention Seeker
- Her Only Friend
- Is This Depression?
- Hate Ex-Boyfriend
- Potentially Suicidal Boyfriend
- Talking Dice
- Self-injurer
- Suicide Threat Relationships (a long one)
- Therapy for Cutters
- Deep Feelings of Suicide
- Self-Injuring Sister
- Self-Injury
- The Aftermath of Suicide
- Poly-addiction?
- Cutting
- Severely Depressed
- Threatened by Suicide if I Leave
Book & Media Reviews
- A Sadly Troubled History
- Alive
- Autopsy of a Suicidal Mind
- Bloodletting
- Boy Interrupted
- Comprehending Suicide
- Crosses
- Duplicity
- Eight Stories Up
- Fatal Attachments
- 26 more
- Heavier than Heaven
- Her Husband
- History of Suicide
- How I Stayed Alive When My Brain Was Trying to Kill Me
- Human Dignity and Assisted Death
- Leaving You
- Life Interrupted
- Like the Red Panda
- Making Sense of Suicide
- Myths about Suicide
- Night Falls Fast
- No Right Turn
- One in Thirteen
- Relational Suicide Assessment
- Silent Grief
- Suicidal
- Suicidal Behavior in Children and Adolescents
- Suicide
- Sylvia
- Sylvia Plath
- Sylvia Plath Reads
- The Art of Misdiagnosis
- The Clinical Science of Suicide Prevention
- The Final Leap
- Thirteen Reasons Why
- Unholy Ghost
Links
Videos
- Developing the Family Intervention for Suicide Prevention (FISP)
- Feeling down? Let's talk - Prevention of suicide among adolescents
- NPW 2017: Suicide and Substance Use in Young People
- Suicide Warning Signs
- ADHD and Suicide Risk Factors
- Suicide Tops Injury Deaths
- Assessment and Intervention with Suicidal Clients: Volume 2
- Assessment and Intervention with Suicidal Clients: Volume 1
- Assessment and Intervention with Suicidal Clients: Volume 3
- Preventing suicide: a global imperative
- 12 more
- Youth Suicide Risk
- Preventing Death by Suicide-Strategies to Help Children, Youth and Families
- The bridge between suicide and life
- Beyond the Data -- Preventing Suicide: A Comprehensive Public Health Approach
- Preventing Suicide: A Comprehensive Public Health Approach
- For Those Considering Suicide
- How to Help Someone Who is Suicidal
- Teen Suicide Prevention
- Reach Out - Preventing Teen Suicide
- Suicide Prevention with Lynn Keane
- Addressing Suicidal Thoughts and Behaviors in Substance Abuse Treatment
- Suicide Signs
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