Suicidal Ideations

Suicide is an act of anger, frustration and desperation. Most people who have attempted suicide and survived verbalize that they did it because they could not see any other options or or way out of their current state. A person suffering from blinding depression not wanting to feel such emotional pain for not another day, or someone that lost all control of their life and not being able to see a way out or unemployment, homelessness, end of a relationship or whatever can no longer face another day sometimes turn to suicide.

There are 2 different types of suicidal ideations. The first is categorized as active suicidal ideations. This is where the individual clearly has a plan and intent to end their life my means of possibly lethal force (e.g. overdosing on pills, hanging, etc). The second type is called passive suicidal ideations. These are less active in nature, where the individual would not resist if death were to fall upon them (e.g. to go to sleep and never wake up, accidentally hit by a bus, etc).

How one evaluates the severity of suicidality is by assessing the following:

1. Presence of suicidal thoughts


2. Presence of a plan(s)


3. Presence of intent to carry out the plan (in order to end their life)


4. Lethality of the plan (overdosing on pills vs. shooting themselves in the head with a shotgun, latter being the more lethal method)


5. Accessibility of the means (If they are planning to hang themselves, do that have access to a rope?)


6. History of past suicide attempts (if someone has attempted suicide before, they are at a higher risk for future attempts)


7. Family history of suicide (presence of known family history of suicide, attempt or completed, has been correlated with higher risk of suicide attempt in the individual in question)


8. Social support (people who have deeper connections with other are at a lower risk for suicide).

Suicidal ideations are considered to be a psychiatric emergency. If you or someone you know are expressive passive or active suicidal ideations, the best thing to do is either to go to the nearest emergency room (preferrably the suicidal individual not doing the driving) or call 911.

Most people who attempt and succeed in ending their own life have tried to reach out for help prior to actually committing suicide. Be present in the moment with your loved ones and maybe you can help someone find help and live.