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Home › Articles › Safety Behaviors › Suicide

Suicide

The Warning Signs and Major Risk Factors of Suicide

By Maureen Empfield, M.D., and Nicholas Bakalar

Pages:  1  2  

  • Violent actions, rebellious behavior or running away
  • Excessive drug and alcohol abuse
  • Unusual neglect of personal appearance
  • Marked personality change
  • Persistent boredom, difficulty concentrating or a decline in the quality of schoolwork
  • Frequent complaints about physical symptoms, often related to emotions, such as stomachaches, headaches, fatigue, etc.
  • Loss of interest in pleasurable acti
  • Not tolerating praise or rewards
  • Complaints of feeling "rotten inside"
  • Giving verbal hints such as "Nothing matters," "It's no use," or "I won't be a problem for you much longer"
  • Putting his or her affairs in order by giving or throwing away favorite possessions or belongings
  • Becoming suddenly cheerful after an episode of depression

    • In high-risk patients -- that is patients who have threatened or attempted suicide -- there are four risk factors that account for more than 80 percent of the risk for suicide: Major depression, bipolar disorder, a lack of previous mental health treatment and the availability of firearms in the home. If these four problems were solved, most suicides would be prevented.


    Pages:  1  2  


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