Risk Factors for Suicide Ideation
Factors that make the consideration of suicide more likely.
Suicide risk factors are traits, experience, or situations that make a person more likely to consider suicide. The more risk factors a person has, the more they are vulnerable to suicide ideation (thinking of suicide). It’s never a guarantee, and certainly some individuals have no visible risk factors and still take their life. However, for most people, the more risk factors, the more vulnerable. A risk factor does not tell us if the individual is thinking of suicide—only that they are more vulnerable.
Risk Factors: Individual Coping Issues
Individuals with these traits are more likely to engage in suicide ideation:
Feelings of hopelessness
Acute, long-term emotional pain
Victimized by bullying or conflict
No sense of purpose in life
Feeling of isolation
Inability to self-regulate; All or nothing thinking
Low self-esteem or high self-hate
Rumination (Constantly thinking of mistakes or humiliations)
No longer getting joy from activities that were once enjoyable
Limited coping and resiliency skills
Limited problem-solving ability
Risk Factors: Health Issues
Individuals who have had these health problems are more likely to engage in suicide ideation:
Substance or alcohol abuse
Depression or other mood disorders
Anxiety or PTSD
Chronic pain or chronic physical illness
Sleeping problems
Traumatic brain injury, particularly recent injuries
Eating disorders, conduct disorders, or schizophrenia
Serious medical diagnoses
Having been recently released from psychiatric hospitalization
Risk Factors: Individual’s Past Experience
Individuals who have had these past experiences are more likely to engage in suicide ideation:
Suicide attempts, especially those with repeated attempts
Self-harm
Significant personal stresses, particularly long-term stresses
Trauma, abuse, or long-term family conflict, particularly in childhood
Suicides or other psychiatric disorders in the family, particularly recent suicides
Repeated psychiatric hospitalizations
Recent loss or bereavement; death of a loved one, especially when the death was a suicide
Engaging in domestic abuse or being the victim of abuse
Significant legal or financial problems
Those who have divorced, separated, or widowed.
Risk Factors: Community Issues
When these are characteristic of a community, individuals are more likely to engage in suicide ideation:
Easy access to lethal means, such as guns or drugs in the house
Exposure to others’ suicide
Limited access to medical health care or therapy
Stigma in the community against talking about suicide or mental illness
Living in poverty
Exposure to community violence
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