One American dies by suicide every 11 minutes. In 2023, the CDC reports that an estimated 12.8 million adults in the US seriously considered suicide and struggled with suicidal ideation [1]. However, these numbers are lower than in previous years and continue to decline.
Preventive interventions have largely contributed to this decrease. An analysis of over 15 studies found that suicide prevention and interventions have helped reduce the global suicide rate by nearly 30%. These intervention methods include a combination of mental health-trained community personnel, psychoeducation, access to evidence-based therapies, restricting access to firearms, and collaborative healthcare [2].
If you or a loved one is struggling with suicidal ideation, support is more comprehensive than ever, and there are now more ways to connect with others who understand what you’re going through.
What is Passive Suicidal Ideation?
Passive suicidal ideation refers to thoughts or fantasies about dying or suicide. If left untreated, it can escalate into active suicidal ideation (planning or preparing to end one’s life). Passive suicidal ideation is not considered an official DSM-5 diagnosis, but rather a symptom of many different mental health challenges.
Passive vs Active Suicidal Ideation
In treatment programs and clinical settings, medical professionals often refer to someone’s suicidal ideation as passive or active. Below are a few key differences between the two:
| Passive Suicidal Ideation | Active Suicidal Ideation |
| Ongoing thoughts about death, dying, suicide, disappearing, not necessarily with a plan to intend or act | Making a plan, active threats, or preparations to commit suicide (giving away things, making suicide notes) |
| Ex: “I wish I wouldn’t wake up” “I wish I died tomorrow and could disappear” | Ex: “I am going to kill myself tonight.” “I have a plan to hurt myself.” |
| Lower risk that may not require immediate hospitalization, but is still severe | High-risk, often requires immediate hospitalization |
How Suicidal Ideation Impacts People’s Lives
According to suicide intervention specialists, most people who think about suicide don’t want to die as much as they want the pain of living to end. This pain can be caused by a number of reasons, including psychological struggles that can be invisible to others [3].
Regardless of what is causing someone to feel suicidal, the consequences can still be devastating. Some of the ways suicidal ideation impacts people’s lives include:
- Daily Functioning: Suicidal ideation and underlying mental health challenges can make it hard to focus in school or work, and result in productivity declines, decreased motivation, lack of self-care, or poor basic hygiene.
- Emotions: Intense feelings of hopelessness, guilt, shame, self-hate, or worthlessness impair emotional regulation, causing severe depression, a sense of overwhelm, or emotional numbness.
- Relationships: Withdrawal from friends or family, social isolation, and strained relationships increase feelings of isolation, loneliness, and low self-esteem.
- Physical Health: Decline in personal hygiene or basic self-care, change in eating or sleeping habits, increased risk of substance abuse, self-harm, and suicide.
Who Is At Risk? The Roots of Suicidal Ideation
Mental health problems such as depression and feelings of suicide don’t discriminate. They can affect anyone, at any age, from any background. However, there are several risk factors that increase the risk of someone experiencing thoughts of suicide [4].
- Mental health disorders such as depression, bipolar disorder, anxiety, PTSD, schizophrenia, and substance abuse disorder have been strongly linked to symptoms of suicidal ideation.
- Having a history of suicide attempts or self-harm is a strong predictor of future suicidal thoughts, behaviors, or attempts.
- A family history of suicide or generational trauma, such as abuse, domestic violence, or neglect, can increase the risk.
- Youth and young adults are at an increased risk of suicide attempts, especially if they struggle with mental health disorders, addiction, or identify as LGBTQ+.
- Females are more likely to experience suicidal ideation, while males are more likely to die by suicide. This is partially due to men often using more lethal means to commit suicide (e.g, firearms)
- LGBTQ+ individuals are at an increasingly high risk, with 18% attempting suicide and 37% reporting suicidal thoughts due to discrimination and lack of access to care [5].
- Veterans are at an increased risk of suicide due to challenges such as trauma and PTSD, substance abuse, homelessness, and inability to access care.
- Life stressors such as grief, loss, financial instability, serious illness, medical injury, or chronic pain can increase suicide risk.
- Access to firearms in the home has been associated with nearly 3 times higher rates of suicide and 4 times higher rates of accidental death [6].
Why Depression Awareness Matters
Depression is one of the most common and significant risk factors for suicidal ideation, behavior, and attempts. It also overlaps with many of the other factors on the list above. Here is a way to visualize it:
- Job loss and financial instability —> depression —> suicidal ideation
- Discrimination and harassment —-> depression —-> suicidal ideation
Increased depression awareness reduces stigma and makes it more acceptable to discuss these once-taboo topics, such as suicide and self-harm. This encourages more people in need of help to seek treatment. Awareness also increases early identification. Training essential community personnel, such as teachers, nurses, coaches, and aid workers, to recognize signs of depression or suicidality is an important preventive step.
How to Stop Suicidal Thoughts Before They Escalate
If you or a loved one is struggling with suicidal thoughts, it’s important to reach out to someone you trust, find a resource in-person or online, and educate yourself on the next steps to take. Struggling with these thoughts can often feel scary, overwhelming, and unwelcoming.
Building A Support Network
It’s important to build a comprehensive support network. Friendships can provide social distractions, loved ones can offer serious support, and professionals can help during a crisis. There are also support groups that focus on topics such as suicide, depression, and grief. These can help you find community, safety, and meaning in shared experiences.
Making A Safety Plan
If you have struggled in the past with mental health or substance abuse crises or have been hospitalized for a previous suicide attempt, you may already be familiar with a safety plan. This comprehensive plan outlines actions to take in the event of a mental health crisis, identifies key contacts, and provides steps to follow.
Suicide safety plans often include:
- Warning signs of a crisis
- Internal coping strategies (what can I do on my own to calm down)
- People or social settings are distractions
- People I can ask for help (my trusted inner circle)
- Professionals or agencies to contact in a crisis
- Steps to making my environment safe (lock up medications or firearms, ask someone to stay with me)
- My reasons for living
Coping Strategies for Managing Distress
It’s important to engage in positive coping strategies to prevent passive suicidal ideation from worsening and manage emotional and mental distress. These can include:
- Distracting, positive activities such as sports, arts, music, going to the gym, gardening, or other hobbies.
- Mindfulness and grounding techniques such as deep breathing, yoga, gentle stretching, guided meditation, and focusing on anchoring yourself to the present moment.
- Compassionate, positive self-talk, reminding yourself that what you are feeling is temporary. Verbalize your strengths, accomplishments, people you love, and things you are grateful for
- Reach out to trusted friends, family members, or support groups if you are feeling overwhelmed. Sometimes it is essential not to be alone.
- Make a structured safety or crisis plan.
- Maintain regular eating patterns, sleep, and exercise routines. Avoid drugs and alcohol, which can worsen mood.
- Seek professional support that can provide mental health treatment.
Reasons to Keep Living: Reconnecting with Meaning
Find reasons that remind you what makes life worth living, even if they “seem small”. In trauma care, these small, meaningful moments are known as “glimmers” and are the opposite of triggers. They are little experiences that promote a sense of mental peace, belonging, and relaxation to the nervous system. They can also be used in suicidal ideation treatment to remind people that despite the pain, there are things to look forward to in life.
A few examples of glimmers include:
- Spotting a rainbow or hearing your favorite song
- Feeling the warmth of the sun, the softness of a blanket
- Enjoying the taste of your favorite food or drink
- Smelling your favorite perfume, dessert, or freshly cut grass
- Learning a new skill
- Volunteering or giving back to the community
- Finding a good parking spot!
Emergency Help: What Happens if You Call A Suicide Hotline?
Suicide hotlines such as 988 (nationwide emergency hotline), the Trevor Project LGBTQ+ hotline, and the national suicide prevention lifeline offer 24/7, confidential support for those struggling with a crisis or in need of help.
When you call a suicide hotline, here’s what usually happens:
- You are immediately connected with a trained, compassionate crisis counselor who is ready to listen and provide emotional support.
- The conversation is confidential unless there is an immediate risk to your life or the life of another person.
- The counselor may conduct an over-the-phone assessment, asking about your current situation to better understand how to help.
- The counselor will help you develop a safety plan, identify coping skills, and support groups to connect with.
- You may be referred to professional mental health services or community resources if you need ongoing care.
- Some counselors may follow up with you and check in on your well-being.
Treatment Options at Maple Mountain
Suicidal ideation treatment at Maple Mountain Mental Health and Wellness uses evidence-based, comprehensive, compassionate care to address all factors that can drive someone to hurt themselves. We take a holistic approach, looking at everything from mental health, life triggers, and trauma to better understand the pain that is causing someone to feel suicidal.
Evidence-Based Therapies
We have several evidence-based therapies and targeted treatment interventions designed to reduce mental distress and suicidal ideation.
Ketamine Therapy: This is an evidence-based, FDA-approved treatment that helps target deep-rooted depression that drives chronic passive suicidal ideation.
Dialectical Behavior Therapy: Studies have shown DBT has great success in reducing suicidality in patients with Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD). It focuses on four key skill sets: mindfulness, emotional regulation, distress tolerance, and interpersonal effectiveness.
Mindfulness-Based CBT (MB-CBT): MB-CBT integrates techniques from mindfulness-based stress reduction and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy to help patients observe suicidal or other distressing thoughts in a more compassionate way and break cycles of rumination.
EMDR and ART: Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing Therapy (EMDR) and Accelerated Resolution Therapy (ART) are two highly effective forms of trauma treatment. They use guided eye movements and bilateral stimulation of the brain to help process traumatic and fragmented memories. This helps reduce associated emotional distress that can often drive suicidal ideation in victims of trauma and PTSD patients.
Holistic Therapies
Holistic therapies can greatly aid in fighting depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder, and other common mental health conditions that increase the risk of suicide.
Dance and Movement Therapy: According to the Journal of Sports Medicine, dance is one of the most powerful forms of exercise for improving depression [7].
Music Therapy and Sound Healing: Brain imaging studies have found that music therapy can reduce activity in the amygdala and stimulate regions of the brain responsible for improved emotional processing and regulation [8].
Art Therapy: Helps patients process distressing or suicidal thoughts, feelings, or emotions they otherwise may have trouble verbalizing.
Therapy, Support, and Long-Term Recovery in Utah
At Maple Mountain Mental Health and Wellness, we understand the complexity of suicidal ideation and that it requires a comprehensive approach to care.
Maple Mountain Mental Health and Wellness’s compassionate team of clinical psychiatrists and experienced therapists is committed to providing life-saving interventions to help reduce the suicide rate in America. Reach out for support.
References
[1] Suicide Data and Statistics. 2025. CDC.
[2] About 740,000 global deaths from suicide occur annually. 2025. IHME.
[3] Sharma, P. 2024. 8 Common Myths About Suicide. Mayo Clinic.
[4] Risk and Preventive Factors. 2024. CDC.
[5] Facts About Suicide Among LGBTQ+ Young People. 2021. The Trevor Project.
[6] Swanson, S. et al. 2018. Firearm access and adolescent suicide risk: toward a clearer understanding of effect size. BMJ Journal.
[7] Ward, E. et al. (2024).The Effectiveness of Dance Interventions on Psychological and Cognitive Health Outcomes Compared with Other Forms of Physical Activity: A Systematic Review with Meta-analysis. Sports Med 54, 1179–1205.
[8] Tamer, R. et al. (2023). The transformative power of music: Insights into neuroplasticity, health, and disease. Brain, behavior, & immunity – health, 35, 100716.
