Understanding Suicide: Awareness, Risk Factors, and the Importance of Prevention
Written by: Virginia Kuhn LPC
September is Suicide Prevention Month, a time dedicated to increasing understanding of suicide, reducing stigma, and highlighting the importance of accessible mental health care.
Suicide is a complex public health issue. It is rarely caused by one event, diagnosis, or circumstance. Instead, suicidal thoughts and behaviors generally develop through an interaction of psychological, biological, social, environmental, and situational factors.
Increasing our understanding of suicide can help reduce shame, encourage earlier intervention, and create safer opportunities for people to discuss what they are experiencing.
Suicidal Thoughts Can Exist on a Spectrum
Suicidal ideation refers to thoughts about death or suicide. These thoughts can vary significantly in their frequency, intensity, and immediacy.
For some people, suicidal ideation may involve passive thoughts, such as wishing they would not wake up or feeling that others would be better off without them. For others, it may include more active thoughts about ending their life, potentially involving intent, planning, or access to lethal means.
Not everyone who experiences suicidal thoughts intends to act on them. However, all suicidal thoughts deserve to be taken seriously and assessed by an appropriately trained professional. Understanding where a person is on this spectrum helps clinicians determine the appropriate level of care and support.
Suicide Does Not Have One Cause
Suicide cannot be attributed to a single diagnosis, relationship problem, loss, or stressful experience. People who experience suicidal thoughts often face a combination of vulnerabilities and stressors.
Factors associated with increased suicide risk may include:
Depression or other mental health conditions
A previous suicide attempt
Trauma or exposure to violence
Chronic pain or serious medical conditions
Substance use
Significant grief or loss
Social isolation
Relationship, occupational, financial, or legal stress
Access to lethal means
A family history of suicide
Experiences of discrimination or rejection
Risk factors do not predict with certainty whether someone will attempt suicide. Many people experience one or more of these circumstances without developing suicidal thoughts or behaviors. A comprehensive assessment considers the individual’s current symptoms, history, environment, access to support, and changes in functioning.
Understanding Warning Signs
Risk factors describe circumstances that may increase vulnerability over time. Warning signs are changes that may indicate a person is experiencing more immediate distress.
According to the National Institute of Mental Health, warning signs may include:
Talking about wanting to die
Expressing hopelessness, shame, or feeling like a burden
Feeling trapped or experiencing unbearable emotional or physical pain
Withdrawing from friends and family
Giving away important possessions or saying goodbye
Making a plan or researching methods of suicide
Taking unusual or dangerous risks
Experiencing significant changes in sleep or eating
Increasing alcohol or substance use
Displaying severe agitation, rage, anxiety, or extreme mood changes
These behaviors do not always mean that someone is suicidal. However, new, escalating, or concerning changes may indicate a need for further assessment and support.
Protective Factors Matter
Suicide prevention does not focus only on reducing risk. It also involves strengthening the factors that help people remain safe and connected during periods of distress.
Protective factors may include:
Supportive relationships
A sense of belonging or connection
Access to effective mental and physical health care
Coping and emotional-regulation skills
Cultural, spiritual, or personal beliefs that support living
Responsibilities or relationships that provide meaning
Reduced access to lethal means
The ability to identify reasons for living
A collaborative safety plan
Protective factors do not eliminate risk, but they can provide stability and create additional time and opportunities for intervention.
Common Misconceptions About Suicide
Stigma and misinformation can make it more difficult for people to disclose suicidal thoughts or seek treatment.
“Talking about suicide will put the idea in someone’s head.”
Research does not support this belief. Asking directly about suicidal thoughts does not increase suicidal thinking or behavior. Open, calm conversations can make it easier for people to describe their experiences accurately.
“Someone who talks about suicide is only seeking attention.”
Statements about suicide should always be taken seriously. Describing suicidal thoughts may be a person’s attempt to communicate overwhelming distress or seek connection when they do not know how else to express what they need.
“Only people with severe depression experience suicidal thoughts.”
Depression is an important risk factor, but suicidal thoughts can occur alongside many different mental health conditions, medical concerns, losses, and life circumstances. Some individuals who experience suicidal ideation may not meet the criteria for a depressive disorder.
“Once someone becomes suicidal, they will always feel that way.”
Suicidal crises can change over time. Effective treatment, supportive relationships, safety planning, reduced access to lethal means, and changes in life circumstances can reduce suicidal thoughts and behaviors. Recovery is possible.
The Role of Mental Health Treatment
Mental health treatment provides a structured setting in which suicidal thoughts can be discussed and assessed without judgment. A suicide risk assessment may explore the nature of the person’s thoughts, intent, planning, access to lethal means, history of attempts, current stressors, protective factors, and ability to participate in a safety plan.
Treatment depends on the person’s needs and level of risk. It may include outpatient psychotherapy, medication management, crisis stabilization, intensive outpatient care, partial hospitalization, or inpatient treatment.
Evidence-based approaches such as Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and Dialectical Behavior Therapy may be incorporated into treatment. Therapy may also address underlying concerns such as depression, anxiety, trauma, grief, chronic stress, or substance use.
The purpose of assessment is not to punish or shame someone for disclosing suicidal thoughts. It is to understand the level of risk and identify the safest and most appropriate support.
Why Suicide Prevention Awareness Matters
Fear of judgment, hospitalization, burdening others, or not being taken seriously may prevent people from disclosing suicidal thoughts. Stigma can also create the false belief that these thoughts reflect weakness, selfishness, or a lack of gratitude.
Suicide Prevention Month creates an opportunity to replace these assumptions with more accurate information. Suicidal thoughts are an indication of significant distress—not a moral failure. People experiencing them deserve compassionate, informed, and appropriate care.
Education alone cannot prevent every suicide. However, accurate information can help communities recognize concerns earlier, respond with less judgment, and support access to effective treatment.
Crisis Resources
The 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline provides free and confidential support 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Individuals can call or text 988 or use the online chat at 988lifeline.org. The service is available to people experiencing suicidal thoughts, emotional distress, substance-use concerns, or other mental health challenges.
If you or someone else is in immediate danger or has already taken action to cause harm, call 911 or go to the nearest emergency department.
Bloom & Breathe Therapy provides specialized, evidence-based mental health care in Arizona and Wyoming, with telehealth services available in Arizona, Wyoming, Idaho, and Missouri. Bloom & Breathe Therapy is not a crisis-response service.