Suicidal Thoughts Symptoms

A person is either experiencing thoughts about committing suicide or not. Almost as important are the symptoms that may accompany these thoughts.

• Depression: Suicidal thoughts may be present if a person is experiencing depression. Depression can be easily assessed.
  
  
  • Others may note that depressed people seem "down" or upset.
    
    
  • Most depressed people report sleep disturbances-either an inability to fall asleep or an inability to sleep through the night.
    
    
  • People who are depressed often speak of feeling hopeless or helpless. They seem unable to experience any feelings of happiness, even when participating in activities they normally enjoy.
    
    
  • Many of these people experience either a rapid weight gain or weight loss along with their depression.
    
    
  • They may seem inattentive, and their performance at work or school may suffer.
    
    
  • They may appear listless and even complain of feeling "down" or depressed.
    
    
  • Depressed people are often burdened with a tremendous sense of guilt. To an outside observer, this guilt often seems unwarranted, but to the depressed person, it seems deserved.
    
• Alcohol or drug addiction: If someone has an ongoing problem with an alcohol or drug addiction, he or she is at increased risk to become actively suicidal.
  
  
  • Drug and alcohol problems generate other circumstances in a person's life, which may worsen depression.
    
    
  • Divorce, loss of job, legal trouble, and financial difficulties often grow from a dependence on alcohol or drugs and can bring about thoughts of suicide.
    
• Mental illness: For someone with a diagnosed mental illness such as schizophrenia or someone who has attempted suicide in the past, thoughts of suicide take on a new dimension of importance.