Suicide Risk Factors and Signs

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Suicidal ideation can be traced to existential concerns about meaning, isolation, freedom, and death.

Insights from existential psychotherapy can help restore hope and a sense of agency.

Existential enlightenment can be a protective factor against suicidal ideation.

Have you ever found yourself in a challenging situation you'd do anything to escape? Maybe you were stuck in a boring meeting or tasked with something that felt like pulling teeth. Let’s dial up the discomfort: Have you ever faced an inescapable challenge? Maybe you live with an incurable illness or are surviving the death of a loved one. In these cases, and often devastatingly, you can't reverse circumstances.

Research shows that when individuals feel stuck in life, they are at greater risk of experiencing an existential crisis: dread about the nature of our existence as humans. In turn, this state of crisis can increase one’s risk of suicidal ideation. From a philosophical perspective, liberation from crisis depends on our relationship with “the four ultimate concerns of life”, as defined by Irvin D. Yalom: death, freedom, isolation, and meaninglessness.

I like to imagine these ultimate concerns of life as pillars. As such, I invite you to imagine a home supported by them. When the pillars have a strong foundation, they are resilient enough to withstand storms and sunshine all the same. However, if even one pillar is weakened, the entire house is at risk of crumbling. Now, imagine you are that home, and consider how ideation may arise and subside depending on how we bolster your life.

What Is Suicidal Ideation, Really?

Among mental health professionals, suicidal ideation is generally observed as either “passive” or “active.” Passive ideation may present as one’s desire to stop feeling emotional pain, which may involve........

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