Psychopathological Differences Between Suicide Ideators and Suicide Attempters in Patients with Mental Disorders

Abstract

Recent suicide attempters show higher levels of hopelessness, borderline symptoms and NSSI than lifetime attempters and suicide ideators. Clinicians should focus attention on assessing hopelessness, borderline symptoms and NSSI in those with suicide ideation. Lower levels of meaning in life are related to recent suicide attempts. Levels of hopelessness differentiate between recent and lifetime suicide attempters.

Non‐suicidal Self‐injury Differentiates Suicide Ideators and Attempters and Predicts Future Suicide Attempts in Patients with Eating Disorders

“…Finally, non‐ideators/attempters showed lower levels of lifetime frequency of NSSI, number of NSSI methods, number of intrapersonal and interpersonal NSSI functions, suicide ideation, hopelessness, and borderline symptoms, compared to ideators and attempters, in agreement with previous research (Pérez et al., ). However, we did not find differences in hopelessness, suicide ideation, borderline symptoms, or lifetime frequency of NSSI between ideators and attempters.…”

“…Similarly, cutting has been associated with an increased probability of suicide (Andover, Pepper, Ryabchenko, Orrico, & Gibb, ; Dougherty et al., ; Victor & Klonsky, ). Finally, different studies have found borderline symptoms associated to suicide attempts (Oldham, ; Paris & Zweig‐Frank, ; Pérez et al., ).…”

“…The presence of hopelessness has been found to be high and relatively stable in patients with SA (Victor & Klonsky, ). In some studies, this variable seems to be able to differentiate not only ideators from attempters but also past attempters from recent attempters (Pérez, Marco, & García‐Alandete, ). However, a recent meta‐analysis found that hopelessness does not seem to predict attempts longitudinally (Qiu, Klonsky, & Klein, ).…”

“…In the framework from ideation to action, some authors have highlighted that suicide research should focus on identifying factors that differentiate suicide attempters from ideators (Glenn & Nock, ; May & Klonsky, ). In this regard, some studies have analyzed clinical and psychopathological differences between suicide ideators and attempters, finding that they differ in their levels of borderline personality symptomatology (e.g., Borges et al., ; Pérez et al., ), hopelessness (O'Connor, Smyth, Ferguson, Ryan, & Williams, ; Pérez et al., ; Smith, Cukrowicz, Poindexter, Hobson, & Cohen, ), and NSSI (Pérez et al., ; Taliaferro & Muehlenkamp, ). Furthermore, the capacity for suicide, understood as a reduced fear of death and increased tolerance to pain and distress, consistently predicted SA among ideators (Klonsky, Qiu, & Saffer, ).…”

“…as a form of NSSI; (4) number of types of NSSI; (5) functions of NSSI; (6) suicide ideation; (7) hopelessness; and (8) borderline symptoms, in a Spanish clinical sample of patients diagnosed with eating disorders. We chose recent attempters—who made an attempt in the previous 12 months—given that previous research has found differences in predictive factors of SA between recent and past attempters (May & Klonsky, ; Pérez et al., ), and we focused on identifying predictors of recent or active SA (Giner, Root, & Courtet, ). We hypothesized that the variables assessed in the study would differentiate between the three conditions, expecting to find higher psychopathological levels in SA patients than in the ideators and non‐ideator/SA groups.…”