What is suicide and why does it happen?

Suicide is the act of intentionally ending one’s own life. It’s a deeply complex issue that can be influenced by a range of factors, long-term mental health difficulties, traumatic experiences, and difficult life circumstances. Often, people who die by suicide are experiencing mental health difficulties, but this is not always the case. Understanding why suicide happens involves looking at an individual and their internal experiences, as well as the broader social and cultural context.

This article covers:

What is suicide?
Why would someone consider suicide?
What increases a person’s risk of acting on their suicidal thoughts?
Finding help for yourself or a friend
What to do in an emergency

What is suicide?

When talking about suicide, it’s important to know the correct terms to use, as this is a sensitive topic that can cause pain for many people. You can learn more about outdated language and the language that is currently accepted by referring to our article on the language to use when talking about suicide.

Suicide is a complex issue, and the language we use to talk about it covers a wide range of experiences. Each experience can mean something different, and that affects the kind of support a person might need.

For example, having suicidal thoughts is different from engaging in “suicidal behaviour,” which involves a person acting on their suicidal thoughts by making plans or attempts to end their life. Similarly, no two people experiencing suicidal thoughts share the same experience. This is partly because “suicidal ideation”—which means thinking about ending your life—can come in different forms. Suicidal thoughts can range from wishing you were no longer alive to making a specific plan to carry out this wish. There’s an important difference between feeling like life isn’t worth living (which is sometimes called “passive” suicidal ideation) and having a specific plan to end one’s life (referred to as “active” suicidal ideation).

Understanding these differences is important because it helps ensure that people get the right kind of help for what they’re going through.

Understanding the different suicide-related terms

Below are some of the most common suicide-related terms used by researchers and mental health professionals:

• Suicide: Intentionally ending one’s own life
• Suicidal behaviour: Actions taken with the intention of ending one’s life, which includes both suicide attempts and suicide. Suicidal behaviour is different from wishing, thinking about, or planning suicide, all of which are mental exercises that do not involve taking any action
• Suicide attempt: A non-fatal action taken with the intention of ending one’s own life
• Self-harm (sometimes referred to as “nonsuicidal self-injury”): Actions taken to relieve intense emotions (or a feeling of numbness or disconnection from yourself or your surroundings) without the intention of ending one’s own life.

The key difference between self-harm and suicidal behaviour is the intention behind the act. People who self-harm usually do not intend to end their lives. However, a history of self-harm can increase the risk of suicide, whether intentional or accidental. Understanding these distinctions can help ensure that people get the right support at the right time. To learn more about the factors affecting suicide, take a look at our factsheet on suicide risk.

Why would someone consider suicide?

It’s rare that a single cause leads someone to suicide. Instead, it usually results from a mix of many different factors. These factors can overlap and influence each other, making it hard to identify exactly why someone might be at risk. Some things that can increase the risk of suicide include:

• Psychological factors, including certain personality traits
• Clinical factors, such as long-term mental health difficulties and diagnoses, including major depressive disorder (MDD), bipolar disorder, substance misuse or substance use disorder (SUD), and schizophrenia
• Social and environmental factors, such as social isolation, bullying, discrimination, or sudden changes in financial stability or income level (e.g., through job loss, debt, loss of a person’s family connectedness or ‘safety net’)
• Biological factors, like gene variations that can increase the risk a person will attempt suicide

Most theories about why suicide happens suggest that suicide is the result of predisposing factors and triggering factors coming together. Predisposing factors are things that make someone more likely to have suicidal thoughts or attempt suicide over the course of their lifetime. These include factors like genetic traits or traumatic experiences early in life, such as neglect or abuse. Triggering factors are recent or current events that can increase a person’s risk of suicide, especially when combined with predisposing factors. Examples include losing a job or experiencing the death of a loved one.

What increases a person’s risk of acting on their suicidal thoughts?

Some people have suicidal thoughts but never make a plan or attempt suicide. Research shows that more people think about suicide than act on it. It’s important to understand not just the general risk factors for suicide but also those that increase the risk of moving from suicidal thoughts to making an attempt.

Here are some risk factors that might increase the risk of a person moving from suicidal thoughts to suicide attempt:

• Multiple mental health conditions: Living with more than one mental health condition at once—often referred to as “co-occurring” or “comorbid” conditions—can make a person particularly vulnerable to acting on their suicidal thoughts. Research suggests that this may be due to an increase in distress and/or a reduction in a person’s restraint or impulse control
• History of self-harm: Past self-harm can be a significant risk factor
• Exposure to suicidal behaviour: Seeing or hearing about suicide can sometimes make a person more vulnerable to imitate an attempt by someone else or attempt suicide in a similar way
• Alcohol and drug misuse: Misusing alcohol and drugs can raise the risk of suicide for several reasons, including making people more impulsive, increasing feelings of hopelessness and depression, and affecting their judgment and coordination. Drug and alcohol misuse and suicidal behaviour may have similar underlying causes, like genetics or certain life events
• Access to means: Having access to a means or method of suicide can increase a person’s risk
• Capacity to act: Having the means and the physical capacity to carry out a wish to end one’s own life can increase the likelihood of an attempt

More than one mental health condition

Co-occurring mental health conditions can significantly increase a person’s risk of acting on suicidal thoughts. This is because living with more than one mental health condition can both increase a person’s level of emotional distress and lower a person’s ability to resist acting on harmful thoughts. While this connection is a deeply concerning one, it also brings hope. Mental health difficulties can be effectively managed and treated with appropriate support. International research shows that mental health treatment can significantly reduce suicide attempts. Access to mental health support and compassionate listening services can help prevent suicide.

Finding help for yourself or a friend

No matter how low you are feeling, it is important to know that help is available. If you are concerned about a friend, the best way to find out how they are feeling is to ask them. Contrary to what you might think, there is no evidence to suggest that asking someone if they are feeling suicidal increases the risk of that person taking their own life. Instead, starting this conversation in a compassionate, open way is likely to help the person feel validated and less alone. If you are looking for advice on how to approach these kinds of conversations, check out our factsheet on helping a friend who is feeling suicidal.

Support services

Regardless of whether you are seeking help for yourself or a friend, there are a number of organisations who can help:

• Text About It, spunout’s messaging support service, which is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. We provide in-the-moment anonymous support and problem-solving when you need it most. Free-text HELLO to 50808 to chat anonymously with a trained volunteer
• Pieta House offer services for people who self-harm, suffer from suicidal ideation or have made suicide attempts, you can contact them 24/7 by texting ‘Help’ to 51444 to get started (standard text messaging rates apply) or by calling 1800 247 247
• Samaritans offers a 24-hour text-based listening service. Alternatively, call 116 123 to talk to someone over the phone
• Childline text and instant messaging services are available from 10am – 4am every day to young people under 18, text ‘Talk’ to 50101 to talk to a trained counsellor by text message or call 1800 66 66 66
• Traveller Counselling Service: If you are a young Traveller and would like to speak to a counsellor who specifically works with the Travelling Community, the Traveller Counselling Service can support you. The service works from a culturally inclusive framework that respects Traveller culture, identity, values and norms. They provide Traveller culture centred counselling and psychotherapy. They are a Dublin based service but offer counselling both in-person and online. For support, you can reach the Traveller Counselling Service by landline at 01 868 5761, mobile at 086 308 1476, or email at [email protected]
• LGBT Ireland offers the National LGBT Helpline, Transgender Family Line, Online Chat Service, Telefriending and Peer Support Groups. Contact them via their helpline at 1800 929539
  Opening up to a friend or family member

Reaching out to someone you trust

It can be difficult to express how you’re feeling but talking to a friend or family member you trust can bring comfort. For some, there are hidden barriers to opening up about how they feel, including stigma and being a member of a religious community where suicide or thoughts of suicide are considered ‘sinful.’

If this feels too difficult right now, consider telling them that you’re not ready to fully explain your feelings but want someone to know that you’re struggling—this can be a good first step. Read more about opening up to a friend or family member.

If you don’t feel like you can talk to someone you know just yet, then consider talking to your GP about your mental health.

What to do in an emergency

If you are in an emergency situation where someone has attempted suicide, call 999 or 112, or get the person to A&E immediately. Read more about what happens if you attend A&E for self-harm or overdose.

Feeling overwhelmed and want to talk to someone?

• Get anonymous support 24/7 with our text message support service
• Connect with a trained volunteer who will listen to you, and help you to move forward feeling better
• Free-text SPUNOUT to 50808 to begin
• Find out more about our text message support service

If you are a customer of the 48 or An Post network or cannot get through using the ‘50808’ short code please text HELLO to 086 1800 280 (standard message rates may apply). Some smaller networks do not support short codes like ‘50808’.