Suicide Recognizing The Threat: Depression

Content provided by the Faculty of the Harvard Medical School

Suicide: Recognizing the threat

Most people who commit suicide are depressed, but what triggers this irrevocable step varies from person to person. Suicide may stem from intense feelings of anger, despair, hopelessness, or panic. Sometimes it's carried out under the sway of a highly distorted or psychotic idea. If you think you might harm yourself, seek help. If you believe a friend or loved one might become self-destructive, urge him or her to do the same.

A number of factors can put someone at a higher risk for suicide in the short term, including:

• an episode of depression, psychosis, or anxiety

• a significant loss, such as the death of a spouse or the loss of a job

• loss of social support, for example, because of a move or when a close friend relocates

• a personal crisis or life stress, especially one that increases a sense of isolation or leads to a loss of self-esteem, such as a separation or divorce

• an illness or taking medication that triggers a change in mood.

None of these circumstances necessarily leads to suicide. In fact, most people in these circumstances do not commit suicide, and there is no way to predict who will. But any blow that upsets a person's life can set a vulnerable individual on a self-destructive course. Treatment can help you or someone you care about change that course.

Last updated:	January 23, 2007