This study evaluated whether psychache (i.e., mental pain) mediates the association between general distress, assessed as the frequency and the intensity of psychological symptoms in the previous week, and suicide ideation in community adults. For a sample of 202 adults, psychache fully mediated the relationship between suicide ideation and the frequency of psychological symptoms, and partially mediated the relationship between suicide ideation and the intensity of psychological symptoms. As such, mental pain fully or partially explains the process linking the frequency and the intensity of general distress to suicide ideation and, thus, mental pain is a target for potential intervention.Suicide ideation is an important risk factor for suicidal 25 behavior. Ideation has been linked to suicide attempts (Brezo et al., 2007) and to subsequent death by suicide. For example, in a 20-year prospective study of almost 7,000 individuals, suicide ideation predicted subsequent death by suicide independently of previous suicide 30

The aim of the present study was to test whether perceived burdensomeness and thwarted belongingness are related to suicide ideation, when controlling for depressive symptoms. The sample consisted of elderly patients recovering from acute medical conditions who were recruited in a medical recovery clinic. Results demonstrated that depressive symptoms and thwarted belongingness related to the suicide ideation item of the Beck Depression Inventory-II, used as an indicator of suicide ideation. Depressive symptoms and thwarted belongingness also discriminated between participants with suicide ideation and participants without suicide ideation as defined by suicide items of the Symptom-Driven Diagnostic System for Primary Care. Results are discussed in terms of potential cultural influences, and clinical implications are highlighted.

The aim of the current study was to assess suicide ideation in a sample of older adults recovering from acute conditions in a clinical recovery facility of the Portuguese Red Cross. Four indicators of suicide ideation were used. Clinical, contextual, and psychological variables—namely, previous suicide attempts, death of a family member by suicide, loneliness, and interpersonal needs—were also tested to determine whether they were related to suicide ideation. Findings show suicide ideation is frequent at admission and related to patients' previous suicide attempts. Death of a family member by suicide and patients' functional dependency are related to some indicators of suicide ideation, and loneliness and interpersonal needs are important psychological variables relating to suicide ideation. Interpersonal needs were related to suicide ideation even after controlling for previous suicide attempts. Implications of the results for clinical practice are discussed. [ Journal of Gerontological Nursing, 43 (9), 31–37.]