Understanding Suicidal Thoughts & Behavior
Unlike traditional psychiatric methods that rarely examine the brain directly, Amen Clinics incorporates advanced brain imaging to detect potential dysfunctions contributing to suicidal ideation and behaviors.
What Are Suicidal Thoughts and Behaviors?
While it’s normal to feel sadness, anxiety, or hopelessness during difficult times, for some, these emotions become overwhelming and persistent. When despair dominates daily life, it may lead to suicidal thoughts or actions, such as speaking about death or taking steps toward self-harm. It’s important to understand that for every suicide, there are roughly 25 attempts—and millions more have considered it. These statistics highlight the urgency of early intervention and support.
Who Is at Risk for Suicide?
Suicide claims the lives of 123 individuals per day in the U.S., making it the 10th leading cause of death nationwide. For individuals aged 10-34, it is the second leading cause, and it ranks fourth among those 35-54. In 2017 alone, suicide occurred twice as often as homicide.
Suicidal thoughts can impact anyone, regardless of age, gender, or background. While men are more likely to die by suicide, women are three times more likely to attempt it.
Primary Causes and Risk Factors for Suicidal Ideation
Suicidal behavior is often linked to a combination of psychological, environmental, and neurological factors, such as:
Chronic stress or bullying
History of trauma or abuse
Traumatic brain injury (TBI)
Mental health conditions (especially depression and anxiety)
Social isolation or family rejection
Substance abuse
Chronic medical illness
Exposure to suicide (in media or loved ones)
Family history of mental illness or suicide
Common Warning Signs of Suicide
If you or someone you know shows any of the following signs, seek immediate help:
Talking about hopelessness or being a burden
Expressing emotional or physical pain
Increased use of drugs or alcohol
Extreme changes in sleep patterns
Intense mood swings or rage
Withdrawing from friends and social activities
Seeking revenge or expressing thoughts of death
Mental Health and Suicide Risk
Mental health disorders like depression, anxiety, PTSD, and bipolar disorder are often at the core of suicidal thoughts—especially when they go undiagnosed or poorly treated. Sadly, over 50% of individuals with depression suffer from treatment-resistant depression, meaning standard antidepressants don’t relieve their symptoms.
At Amen Clinics, brain imaging has helped identify 7 types of depression and anxiety, and 7 types of ADD/ADHD, proving that mental health is not one-size-fits-all. Identifying your condition’s subtype is essential for creating an effective treatment plan—especially for those experiencing suicidal depression or PTSD.
Is Self-Harm Linked to Suicide?
Self-harming behaviors—such as cutting, burning, or headbanging—are often used as a coping mechanism, not necessarily as a suicide attempt. While nonsuicidal in nature, up to 40% of those who self-harm have suicidal thoughts, and 50%-85% have attempted suicide at least once.
Self-injury is strongly associated with mental health conditions like:
- Depression
- Anxiety
- Bipolar disorder
- Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD)
How Brain Imaging Sheds Light on Suicidal Behavior
Our research has scanned over 300 individuals who attempted suicide and many more who contemplated it.
Key findings include:
Temporal Lobe Abnormalities
In 62% of suicidal patients, we identified issues in the left temporal lobe—a brain region critical to emotional regulation and behavior.
2. Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI)
After reviewing more than 200,000 brain scans, we found that TBIs are a leading contributor to depression, PTSD, substance abuse, and suicidal behavior. Many patients were unaware of past head injuries until shown evidence in their brain scans.
3. Prefrontal Cortex Impairment
The prefrontal cortex is responsible for judgment, impulse control, and decision-making. Alcohol significantly impairs this area, which may explain why 22% of those who die by suicide were found to be intoxicated at the time.
4. Anterior Cingulate Gyrus Overactivity
Overactivity in this brain region causes individuals to obsess over negative thoughts, a pattern frequently observed in those with suicidal tendencies.