Myths and facts about suicide

Why this page existed

The centre's own framing was that misunderstanding is not merely inaccurate, it is obstructive — it stops people seeking the help they need, and it applies equally to people considering suicide and to people affected by a loss. A myths page on a crisis line's website is not trivia. It is an attempt to remove the specific false beliefs that stop a worried friend picking up the telephone.

This page carries the centre's twelve pairs. The reasoning is reproduced as published; the numerical claims are marked, because several cite years in the early 2000s and one is arithmetically impossible as printed.

The twelve pairs

Myth: people who talk about suicide do not kill themselves.

Fact. A large majority — at least two-thirds to three-quarters, according to the research studies the centre cited — of those who die by suicide communicate their intentions to others, directly or indirectly, in the weeks before their death. Threats and attempts must be taken seriously. This is the single most load-bearing claim in the whole field, and the one an external reader once cited this page for by quoting the fraction.

Myth: suicide happens without warning.

Fact. Most suicidal people talk about their feelings, thoughts and intentions, or give behavioural clues. Recognising and responding to those indicators can prevent attempts and deaths. The centre added the necessary caveat rather than overclaiming: some people show no indication in advance.

Myth: suicidal people always want to die.

Fact. Many want to live better even while saying they want to die. The communication usually indicates a need for relief from intense emotional pain and a want for life-saving help. Ambivalence is the working assumption of every crisis conversation — it is what there is to talk to.

Myth: once a person is suicidal, they are suicidal forever.

Fact. Most suicidal crises are limited in time and will pass if help is provided. But if distress continues without relief and help is not sought, risk remains.

Myth: improvement after a crisis means the risk is over.

Fact. Many suicides occur following apparent improvement in mood, because a decision to resolve one's problems can bring relief and energy. The centre advised particular attentiveness for at least three months following a crisis, frequent contact from therapists during that period, and assessment for depression. This is the least intuitive item on the list and the one that most often surprises families.

Myth: suicide strikes mostly the rich — or, conversely, mostly the poor.

Fact. Death by suicide is not specific to financial status. It occurs at all socio-economic levels and across all ages, cultures, ethnic groups and sexes.

Myth: suicide is inherited or runs in the family.

Fact. There is no gene for suicide. But in families with histories of major depression, alcoholism or schizophrenia — conditions most often associated with risk — the potential for suicidal behaviour may be increased, and risk may also rise through identification with and imitation of an earlier suicide in the family.

Myth: people who are suicidal are insane.

Fact. Severe emotional distress is not the same thing as mental illness. Behaviour that looks psychotic may be temporary and the result of extreme unhappiness or upset. Many suicidal people are experiencing an episode of major depression, and most deaths do occur in the context of a documentable psychiatric or addiction disorder — but distress alone is not insanity.

Myth: more people die by homicide than by suicide.

Fact. The centre's answer was that in the United States suicide ranked above homicide among leading causes of death. The specific figures it printed alongside this item are internally inconsistent and are not reproduced here; see the CDC for current data.

Myth: teenagers kill themselves more than any other age group.

Fact. Teenagers are estimated to attempt in greater numbers than any other age group, but the age group with the highest rate of deaths is older adults. The centre's stated attempt-to-death ratios for teenagers and for the population as a whole were estimates of their period and should be checked against current data.

Myth: most suicide deaths occur around the Christmas holidays.

Fact. The centre's data showed deaths consistently highest in June and July, with Mondays slightly higher than other days. The holiday-suicide belief is one of the most durable false ideas in the subject and is reinforced every December by news coverage.

Myth: asking a distressed person whether they are thinking about killing themselves makes it more likely.

Fact. A distressed person who has not thought about suicide will not take the question as a new suggestion. If they have been considering it but have not said so out of embarrassment, being asked is more likely to bring relief and the sense that someone has recognised the despair. This is the belief that stops most people asking, and it is why the centre put ask directly first in every version of its guidance.

What has and has not changed

Compared against current guidance from national bodies, the reasoning on this page has held up remarkably well. Every one of the practice-relevant items — warning communication, ambivalence, the time-limited nature of crises, elevated risk during apparent improvement, and the finding that asking does no harm — remains standard, and asking directly is now taught in essentially every gatekeeper training programme in use.

What has dated is the arithmetic. Several items cite early-2000s figures, one prints a cause-of-death rank and a death count that cannot both be right, and the attempt-to-death ratios are period estimates. That is what a page written for a community audience in the mid-2000s and left up for fifteen years looks like, and it is precisely why an archive should mark the numbers rather than quietly refresh them and pass the result off as the original.

For current figures and current guidance: CDC, American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, SAMHSA on 988, and the World Health Organization.