Factors that contribute to suicide risk
Emotional and medical symptoms:
• Severe depression
• Feelings of helplessness or hopelessness
• Substance abuse or mental health disorders
• Compulsive gambling
• Delusions of auditory hallucinations commanding self-harm
• Chronic debilitating or severe illness
• Severe pain
• Severe unrelenting anxiety
• Loss of self-esteem
• Severe over reaction to stress
• Lack of impulse control or poor judgment
• Feelings of rage, hostility, or revenge
• Repression of angry feelings
• Severe internal conflicts, such as overwhelming guilt or ambivalence
Stressors
• History of abuse
• Dysfunctional family
• Relationship difficulties
• Legal problems or criminal involvement
• Severe financial problems
• Experience of a serious loss or multiple losses
• Extreme social isolation from lack of social support
• Spiritual distress
• Feeling that there is no future
• Cult membership
• Family history of suicide
• Previous suicide attempts or threats
Suicidal Plan:
• Suicidal thoughts or ideation
• Getting personal business in order or giving away possessions
• Having a high lethality suicide plan (definite plan, time, place and means) to die quickly.
• Unwillingness to sign a no-suicide contract (contract signed by the client that contains a statement such as, “I will not kill myself in any way shape or form for any reason”).