Last year, nearly 49,000 people died of suicide in the U.S—one every 11 minutes. Despite these staggering numbers, suicide is preventable.
By asking someone if they are having thoughts of suicide and by reducing access to lethal means, you can help save lives. And by teaching coping skills and providing psychotherapy, you can improve mental wellness and resilience.
Risk Factors
There are many risk factors associated with suicide, including a person’s biological and psychological state, the presence of psychiatric illnesses, social and cultural contexts, the availability of lethal means of self-harm, and access to mental health services. There are also protective factors that can mitigate the risk of suicidal behaviors, such as strong connections to family and friends, effective problem-solving skills, and faith in a higher power.
To better understand the causes of suicide, NIMH is supporting research to identify risk and protective factors. The research focuses on understanding who is most likely to die by suicide, and which groups are disproportionately affected by this tragedy.
Researchers have analyzed psychological autopsy studies to find the risk factors associated with suicide. They have identified 40 risk factors and their odds ratios, which were pooled to compare effects across different domains: sociodemographic, clinical, family history and adverse life events. The strongest association with suicide was seen for clinical factors, including any mental disorder and a history of self-harm.
Triggers
Many people who take their lives are experiencing a lot of emotional pain and view suicide as an escape from that pain. The pain may be caused by health, mental health, or relationship issues, and by negative life events such as death of a loved one or financial crisis.
Some of the triggers that lead to suicide include a desire to end suffering, feelings of hopelessness or helplessness, and impulsivity. These factors may be combined to produce suicidal thoughts and actions on a continuum, from passive suicidal ideation without any concrete methods or plans through to active suicidal thought with a plan and intent to act.
Thoughts of suicide can be a cry for help and should be taken seriously, even when kids talk about killing themselves. A parent or therapist who dismisses this kind of talk as “dramatic” can actually make things worse. Some of the ways to overcome suicide triggers include finding a safe place, storing or locking up weapons and medication, staying connected with friends and family, and getting treatment.
Symptoms
There are many warning signs that someone is thinking about suicide. People may talk about harming themselves, write notes, remove items they might use to hurt themselves from their home or buy drugs and weapons. These are all serious and should be taken seriously. A person who is considering suicide often has severe depression, extreme anxiety or psychosis.
There is hope, and suicide can be prevented. Developing healthy relationships, building connections with others and consulting with a behavioral health specialist are just some of the ways that one can prevent suicide. Avoiding alcohol and recreational drugs is also important. For those who have been diagnosed with a mental illness, taking their medications as directed by their provider is very important. If you are having suicidal thoughts, ask for help from a trusted friend or family member, seek emergency care or call 911. You can also get help by calling the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255 or visiting their website.
Treatment
A suicide prevention strategy involves teaching coping skills and helping people find help, including community resources that provide temporary assistance. It also includes lowering barriers to seeking care by promoting peer norms that support help-seeking and making services more accessible and culturally appropriate. Finally, it incorporates strategies such as gatekeeper training, suicide screening and warning signs, and connections to follow-up support services.
All people with suicidal thoughts need to be treated, including psychiatric consultations to assess for risk factors and develop a treatment plan. Medications such as antidepressants and mood stabilizers can reduce the severity of these feelings. It is important to follow a medication regimen as directed by your doctor, as skipping doses can make you feel worse. Other treatments include talking therapies, disabling access to lethal means (e.g., removal of firearms and large supplies of medication), removing a person from dangerous places, and providing symptomatic relief (e.g., sleep aids and sedatives). Barriers can be overcome with community outreach and education campaigns that promote help-seeking and increase awareness of suicide risk.