Citation

Crosby AE, Cheltenham MP, Sacks JJ. Suicide Life Threat. Behav. 1999; 29(2): 131-140.

Affiliation

Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Atlanta, GA 30341-3724, USA.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1999, American Association of Suicidology, Publisher John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

10888057

Abstract

Completed suicides reflect only a portion of the impact of suicidal behavior; sublethal behaviors cause morbidity and can signal treatable problems such as depression. There is no national quantification of nonlethal suicidal behaviors. The present study used a random-digit-dialed telephone survey to estimate the 12-month incidence of suicidal ideation, planning, and attempts among U.S. adults. Of 5,238 respondents, 5.6% (representing about 10.5 million persons) reported suicidal ideation, 2.7% (about 2.7 million) made a specific suicide plan, and 0.7% (about 700,000) made a suicide attempt (estimate = 1.1 million attempts). Hence, suicidal behaviors are not uncommon and occur along a continuum ranging from ideation to completed suicides. Preventing nonlethal precursor behaviors may prevent deaths.