Suicide decision-making: Differences in proximal considerations between individuals who aborted and attempted suicide.

Abstract

The transition from suicidal thoughts to behaviors often involves considering the consequences of suicide as part of the decision-making process. This study explored the relationship between this consideration process and the decision to either abort or carry out a suicide attempt. Among inpatients with a suicide-related event in the past 2 weeks (suicide attempt n = 30 or aborted attempt n = 16), we assessed the degree to which they considered six domains of consequences, the impact of these considerations on their inclination to attempt suicide, and the duration of their decision-making. All the participants who aborted and 87% of those who attempted considered consequences of suicide. Participants who aborted took longer to progress through decision-making stages and considered more suicide-hindering factors, especially interpersonal ones, though these differences were no longer significant after correction. Group status moderated the relationship between the balance of suicide-facilitating and suicide-hindering considerations and decision-making duration. Considering the consequences of suicide more favorably was related to a shorter ideation-to-action period before a suicide attempt and a longer ideation period before aborting an attempt. This study highlights the complexity of suicide decision-making and its role in better understanding the progression from ideation to action.