Suicidal ThoughtsMedical Author:
Roxanne Dryden-Edwards, MD
Roxanne Dryden-Edwards, MDDr. Roxanne Dryden-Edwards is an adult, child, and adolescent psychiatrist. She is a former Chair of the Committee on Developmental Disabilities for the American Psychiatric Association, Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland, and Medical Director of the National Center for Children and Families in Bethesda, Maryland. Medical Editor:
William C. Shiel Jr., MD, FACP, FACR
William C. Shiel Jr., MD, FACP, FACRDr. Shiel received a Bachelor of Science degree with honors from the University of Notre Dame. There he was involved in research in radiation biology and received the Huisking Scholarship. After graduating from St. Louis University School of Medicine, he completed his Internal Medicine residency and Rheumatology fellowship at the University of California, Irvine. He is board-certified in Internal Medicine and Rheumatology.
Suicidal Thoughts OverviewIf you or someone you know is considering suicide and are unsure how to deal with it, call a suicide hotline, like 1-800-SUICIDE, to get help. Suicidal thoughts are troubling, especially when accompanied by depression, other mental illnesses, alcohol or substance abuse, or plans for suicide. This situation demands immediate evaluation. These thoughts may indicate the presence of a serious psychological disorder. The critical distinction is between a person's thoughts regarding death and suicide and actually feeling suicidal. When doctors hear that someone wants to die, they refer to these thoughts as suicidal ideation and divide them into two categories.
If a person has an actual desire to die (in either form of suicidal ideation), he or she must seek immediate medical attention. |
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Suicidal Thoughts
Types of Depression
Throughout the course of our lives, we all experience episodes of stress, unhappiness, sadness, or grief. Often, when a loved one dies or we suffer a personal tragedy or difficulty such as divorce or loss of a job, we may feel depressed (some people call this "the blues"). Most of us are able to cope with these and other types of stressful events.
Over a period of days or weeks, the majority of us are able to return to our normal activities. But when these feelings of sadness and other symptoms make it hard for us to get through the day, and when the symptoms last for more than a couple of weeks in a row, we may have what is called "clinical depression." The term clinical depression is usually used to distinguish the illness of depression from less difficult feelings of sadness, gloom, or the blues.
Clinical depression is not just grief or feeling sad. It is an illness that can challenge your ability to perform even routine...
Read What Your Physician is Reading on Medscape
Suicide »
Suicide ranks as the eleventh leading cause of death in the United States.
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