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Suicidal ideation is a common medical term for thoughts about suicide, which may be as detailed as a formulated plan, without the suicidal act itself. Although most people who undergo suicidal ideation do not commit suicide, some go on to make suicide attempts or take their own lives. ^[1] The range of suicidal ideation varies greatly from fleeting to detailed planning, role playing and unsuccessful attempts, which may be deliberately constructed to fail or be discovered or may be fully intended to succeed but not actually do so.

Suicidal ideation should not be ignored; at the very least it indicates an unhappiness with life that could be addressed. Regardless of what percentage of people with suicidal ideation commit suicide, it is still a risk factor for suicide. A trained psychologist or psychiatrist should be making the final evaluation on the risk of suicide, and even they are sometimes wrong. In a study conducted in Finland, 22% of the suicide victims examined had discussed suicidal intent with a health care professional in their last office visit (Halgin, 2006). An untrained person should not ignore warning signs of suicidality; a failure to respond may carry devastating consequences.

[edit] References

• Halgin, Richard P.; Susan Whitbourne (2006). Abnormal psychology : clinical perspectives on psychological disorders, pp. 267-272, Boston : McGraw-Hill. ISBN 0-07-322872-9.
• Beck, AT, Steer, RA; Kovacs, M; Garrison, B (1985). Hopelessness and eventual suicide: a 10-year prospective study of patients hospitalized with suicidal ideation. Am J Psychiatry 142 (5): 559–563.
• Uncapher, H (2000-2001). Cognitive biases and suicidal ideation in elderly psychiatric inpatients. Omega 42 (1): 21–36.
• Uncapher, H, Gallagher-Thompson, D; Osgood, NJ (1998). Hopelessness and suicidal ideation in older adults. The Gerontologist 38 (1): 62–70.

[edit] Footnotes

1. ↑ Gliatto, Michael F., Rai, Anil K. (March 1999). Evaluation and Treatment of Patients with Suicidal Ideation. American Family Physician 59 (6).

[edit] External links

• Evaluation and Treatment of Patients with Suicidal Ideation
• Suicidal Thoughts

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fr:Idée suicidaire

This page uses content from the English-language version of Wikipedia. The original article was at Suicidal ideation. The list of authors can be seen in the page history. As with Psychology Wiki, the text of Wikipedia is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.