Title: Suicide Triggers
Headings: Suicide Triggers
Suicide Triggers
Content: Examples of negatively stressful events include losses related to health, significant relationships and jobs, debts, peer pressure to be thin and beautiful, and similar difficult situations. Some suicidal individuals never quite developed the skills necessary to successfully cope with stressful situations and have personalities that are vulnerable to becoming overwhelmed by negative circumstance. Other suicidal individuals may have reasonable coping skills in place at one point, but find themselves worn down by circumstance to the point where they can no longer manage. The most frequent stressful event leading up to suicide (what is often called a precipitating event) in the US today is mental illness, which is estimated to account for about 90 percent of all suicides. As we discussed earlier, a newly diagnosed and/or poorly treated mental illness can trigger a suicide in some cases. In addition, a change in someone's existing mental illness (for the worse or better) can function as a precipitating event for suicide. Most people incorrectly assume that only deteriorating conditions should be monitored. However, as was previously discussed, people who have been severely depressed and are now starting to regain their energy may suddenly find themselves with enough energy to carry out suicide plans. Depression is the most common mental illness in people who commit suicide, so we will briefly detour from the topic of suicide to discuss this common disorder, which is discussed in significant detail in our Depression topic center. According to the DSM-IV-TR (the latest version of the manual used by clinicians to diagnose mental disorders) you must meet the following criteria in order to qualify for a diagnosis of Major Depression: