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February 6, 2012
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Suicidal Thoughts

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Suicidal Thoughts Overview

If 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.

  • Suicidal ideation can be active and involve a current desire and plan to die.


  • Suicidal ideation can be passive, involving a desire to die but without a plan to bring about one's death.

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 the Depression article »


Read What Your Physician is Reading on Medscape

Suicide »

Suicide ranks as the eleventh leading cause of death in the United States.

Read More on Medscape Reference »

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