What Is Suicidal Ideation? | Causes, Symptoms, Prevention, & Treatment

Life can be hard and, sometimes, everyone thinks about death and dying, even if these thoughts are uncomfortable or frightening. But for some people, these thoughts can grow and grow and become even more worrying.

While the vast majority of those who have some thoughts of suicide never act on those thoughts, they can still be an important warning sign. The longer suicidal ideation continues, the greater a person’s risk of suicidal activity becomes, especially when substance abuse is involved.

If you or someone important in your life is struggling with suicidal ideation or suicidal behavior, seek professional help and support. Suicidal ideation and the factors that feed into it are treatable and you can find your way to a positive, fulfilling, and optimistic future.

Causes Of Suicidal Ideation

Suicidal ideation is not considered a true mental disorder in the same way that PTSD or OCD are. Instead, it refers to any pattern of thoughts or preoccupations about causing one’s death with or without a formal mental health condition.

While suicidal thoughts can arise unexpectedly, with little outward sign and without a clear cause, they are more often linked to specific risk factors and negative life-experiences, including:

• past suicide attempts
• mental illness, especially bipolar disorder/manic-depressive disorder, major depression, and post-traumatic stress disorder
• physical illness, disability, or chronic pain
• substance abuse
• traumatic experiences
• high levels of personal stress
• social isolation
• legal, financial, or social difficulties
• family history of suicide
• suicidal activity among peers
• easy access to lethal means

Suicide Statistics

Suicidal ideation greatly increases a person’s risk of suicide if left unaddressed. Unfortunately, suicide is currently a leading cause of death in the United States, claiming the lives of 49,449 Americans in 2022 alone across every age group and race.

Public health information demonstrates that middle-aged white men (specifically Caucasian male adults and young adults between the ages of 25 and 44) face the highest prevalence of suicide death of any group in the nation.

In fact, as of 2022, men accounted for nearly 4x the suicide deaths of women, and white Americans accounted for more than 7x more deaths than the next highest demographic, Hispanic Americans.

Symptoms Of Suicidal Ideation

In the DSM-5, suicidal ideation is defined as any thoughts about self-harm that include considering or planning to cause one’s own death. Suicidal ideation is sometimes subdivided into two different subtypes:

• passive suicidal ideation, which involves thinking about not wanting to be alive anymore or imagining being dead
• active suicidal ideation, which involves developing a suicide plan or taking other steps to prepare to die by suicide

Outward signs that can indicate a person is having suicidal thoughts include:

• talking about suicide, including making jokes about dying, threating to commit suicide, or wishing one was dead or hadn’t been born
• collecting items to take one’s own life with, often a gun or pills
• removing oneself from one’s friends and family
• frequent mood swings or agitation
• expressing feelings of frustration, hopelessness, or being trapped
• increasing misusing alcohol or drugs
• unusual changes to eating or sleeping patterns
• giving away belongings or getting affairs in order
• saying goodbye to others as if it will be the last time

Unfortunately, these warning signs may not be obvious and may vary from person to person. While some people offer clues or otherwise signal that they need help, others are adept at keeping their suicidal thoughts and feelings secret, sometimes until it is too late.

Suicide Prevention

If you or someone nearby you has attempted or was about to attempt suicide, contact 911 immediately. If you or they are not in immediate physical risk, you can also contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline by dialing 988.

If you are speaking with someone who is experiencing serious suicidal ideation, do the following:

• ask if the person is considering suicide, be direct
• remove any lethal means from the person
• listen to what they are saying and understand how they are feeling
• help them connect to a crisis lifeline or mental health professional
• follow-up with them and keep in touch after they begin treatment

Treating Suicidal Ideation

Suicidal thoughts in non-emergency situations can be treated through:

• psychotherapy (talk therapy), during which one will explore the causes underlying their suicidal thoughts and feelings while learning how to cope with them
• medication, ranging from antidepressants to antipsychotic medications, anti-anxiety medications, and others depending on the other mental health conditions at play
• rehabilitation, including detoxification, inpatient or outpatient treatment, and support groups if a substance use disorder (alcohol or drug use) is contributing
• other support, including therapy involving family members, educational programs, employment counseling, support groups, treatment for other contributing physical or mental health problems, and other accommodations

If you or your loved one have been struggling with thoughts of death or suicide, please reach out and get professional help today.

At Ark Behavioral Health, our treatment facilities offer expert care for all forms of drug and alcohol abuse and addiction as well as primary mental health care for suicidal thoughts, anxiety, depression, PTSD, personality disorders, and a wide range of other conditions. 

Call us today to get started.