Risk Factors & Suicide
- Identifying Risk
- Risk Factors
Suicide is a significant public health issue that can have lasting, harmful effects on individuals, families and entire communities. Its causes are complex, but the goal of suicide prevention is simple: to help communities better understand risk factors, lift up the protective factors that can counteract them, and eliminate stigmas that get in the way of open, honest, powerful conversations.
Risk Factors Include
- Family history of suicide
- Family history of child abuse or neglect
- Previous suicide attempts
- History of mental health disorders, especially clinical depression
- History of alcohol and substance abuse
- Feelings of hopelessness
- Impulsiveness or aggression
- Cultural and religious beliefs
- For example, the belief that suicide is a noble resolution of a personal dilemma
- Local suicide clusters
- Isolation — a feeling of being cut off from other people
- Barriers to accessing mental health treatment
- Grief or loss (of a relationship, job, finances, etc.)
- Physical illness
- Easy access to lethal methods, such as firearms
- Unwillingness to seek help because of the stigma attached to mental health and substance use disorders or to suicidal thoughts
- Substance Use Disorders