What Causes Thoughts of Suicide?

What Causes Thoughts Of Suicide?

Thoughts of suicide can have various causes, ranging in severity from 'very serious' to 'life-threatening'. Finding the true cause means ruling out or confirming each possibility – in other words, diagnosis.

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Diagnosis is usually a complex process due to the sheer number of possible causes and related symptoms. In order to diagnose thoughts of suicide, we could:

Research the topic
Find a doctor with the time
Use a diagnostic computer system.

The process is the same, whichever method is used.

Step 1: List all Possible Causes

We begin by identifying the disease conditions which have "thoughts of suicide" as a symptom. Here are two possibilities:

Depression
Possible Urgent Medical Need

Step 2: Build a Symptom Checklist

We then identify all possible symptoms and risk factors of each possible cause, and check the ones that apply:

significant abdominal pain

very black/tarry stools

being a lethargic person

recurring depression

very angry/hostile disposition

pain in both eyes

frequent night terrors

chest pain when breathing

having trouble concentrating

significant hypogastric pain

significant right hypochondriac pain

minor mood swings

... and more than 20 others

Step 3: Rule Out or Confirm each Possible Cause

A differential diagnosis of your symptoms and risk factors finds the likely cause of thoughts of suicide:

Cause	Probability	Status
Possible Urgent Medical Need	95%	Confirm
Depression	73%	Possible

* This is a simple example to illustrate the process

Arriving at a Correct Diagnosis

The Analyst™ is our online diagnosis tool that learns all about you through a straightforward process of multi-level questioning, providing diagnosis at the end.

In the Emotional Symptoms section of the questionnaire, The Analyst™ will ask the following question about suicidal thoughts, suicide attempts:

Have you had suicide thoughts or attempts?

Possible responses:

→ Never / it crosses my mind sometimes / don't know
→ I think about it often / I seriously considered it
→ I tried it over 5 years ago
→ I tried it within the past 5 years
→ Tried in past year / several times in past 5 years

Based on your response to this question, which may indicate either suicidal thoughts or attempting suicide, The Analyst™ will consider possibilities such as:

A Potentially Urgent Medical Need

Depression

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