Suicide is Never A Last Minute Decision
Suicide is Never A Last Minute Decision
From “Rethinking Suicide: Why Prevention Fails, and How We Can Do Better” - Craig J. Bryan
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n a study conducted by Marianne Wyder and Diego De Leo, two out of three individuals who were interviewed soon after they had attempted suicide denied experiencing one or more of these intermediate levels of the suicide-risk continuum. In this study, six out of 10 individuals who attempted suicide said they did not make any plans or arrangements to take their lives prior to attempting suicide, three out of 10 reported they did not seriously consider taking their own life, and two out of 10 reported they did not think about taking their lives at all. Approximately half of U.S. adults who have attempted suicide similarly deny they had made a plan in advance.
Half of suicide attempts occur within five to 20 minutes of deliberation over the act.
- Millner interviewed 30 individuals who had recently attempted suicide and asked these individuals to reflect upon their experiences leading up to the attempt. On average, participants reported the following timeline:
- Five years prior to the attempt, they first experienced suicidal thoughts and experienced these thoughts off and on for several years
- Two weeks prior to the attempt, these suicidal thoughts increased in intensity and frequency, such that they were occurring nearly continuously
- One week prior to the attempt, they started to think about where to attempt suicide
- Six hours prior to the attempt, they experienced an internal debate about whether or not to attempt suicide
- Two hours prior to the attempt, they decided upon which method to use
- Thirty minutes prior to the attempt, they decided where to make the attempt
Five minutes prior to the attempt, they made the final decision to act.
For most individuals, suicidal thinking remained relatively low in intensity until just a few hours before making the attempt, at which point the progression toward suicidal behavior rapidly accelerated.