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Suicide: Warning Signs and Risk Factors

Sometimes a suicidal person will give no signs that they plan to commit suicide, but there are some signs that you should know about.

Thinking or talking suicide through, threatening to hurt oneself or thinking of ways to do so
Withdrawal from friends and family
Substance abuse or increased substance use
Purposelessness, no sense of a reason for living
Expression of a lack of future orientation (i.e. “It won’t matter soon anyway”)
Anxiety, depression
A sense of feeling trapped
Anger
Giving away valued possessions
Recklessness, engaging in risky activity without thinking
Dramatic changes in mood
Hopelessness
For someone who has been very depressed, when that depression begins to lift, the person may actually be at increased risk of suicide because the person will have the psychological energy to follow through on suicidal thoughts