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Articles
Signs and Symptoms of Suicidal Behavior
There are four main categories of signs and symptoms of suicidal
behavior:
- Thoughts and/or statements expressed by the suicidal person:
 | my family would be better off without me |
| I'm going to end it all |
| I won't be around much longer |
| I can't stand it any longer |
| I wish I were dead, I hate myself |
| All of my problems will soon be over |
| I won't be needing these things right now. |
| I can't do anything right |
| I'll show you |
| I'm going to get even |
| I'll go someplace where no one can ever hurt me again
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Physical symptoms:
| Change in or loss of appetite or weight |
| Sleep disturbances - too much or too little |
| Loss of interest in appearance |
| Self-mutilation, intentional and through accidents |
| Lack of energy |
| Loss of sexual drive |
| hyper activity |
| physical health complaints |
| Hyper compulsivity, ritualizing activities
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Emotional symptoms and feelings:
| Anxiety and fear |
| Unreal expectations about performance |
| Despondency, sadness |
| Mood swings, from hostility to apathy |
| Feelings of helplessness or hopelessness |
| Feelings of loss (anticipated, real or imagined) |
| Feelings of being isolated |
| Guilt |
| Feelings of worthlessness
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Behavioral symptoms:
| Withdrawal from family, friends, work and school |
| Inactive |
| Frequent, irrational changes in behavior |
| Difficultly concentrating |
| Impulsiveness, recklessness |
| Abuse of alcohol/drugs/food/TV |
| Peaceful and accepting: calm before the storm |
Other signs include:
| giving away favorite possessions |
| Making a will |
| Putting home and business affairs in order |
| Saying good-byes |
| Making sarcastic jokes about one's self-worth |
High-risk groups for suicide include:
| Male, particularly young or old |
| Aboriginal, especially young and male |
| History of psychiatric difficulties |
| Person bereaved by suicide |
| Female, pregnant and with a history of sexual abuse |
| Problems with alcohol/drugs |
| Previous suicide attempts |
| History of abuse or recent abuse; entering flashback stage
of post-traumatic stress disorder |
| Recent major loss: death of or separation from loved one,
loss of job, loss of sense of identity or sense of meaning
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