Topics and Terms – Suicide Prevention Resource Center

This page offers definitions of terms commonly used in suicide prevention. Many of these terms are also used in other public health and behavioral health contexts, where they may be defined somewhat differently.

Acute phase, suicidal crisis

The acute phase is the period in which an individual experiencing a suicidal crisis is at imminent risk for acting on thoughts of suicide. The acute phase starts when the individual shifts from thinking about taking their life to preparing to take their life.

Assessment

A comprehensive evaluation, usually performed by a clinician, to confirm suspected suicide risk in a patient, estimate the immediate danger, and decide on a course of treatment. Also see Screening. To learn more, read SPRC’s Suicide Screening and Assessment.

At risk

Characterized by a high level of risk for suicide and/or a low level of protection against suicide risk factors. An individual displaying warning signs of suicide would also be considered at risk. Note that most members of any at-risk group will not display warning signs, attempt suicide, or die by suicide. Also see Warning signs, Risk factor, and Protective factor.

Behavioral health

Emotional and mental health, and individual actions that affect wellness. Behavioral health problems include substance abuse and addiction, serious psychological distress and mental disorders, and suicidal behaviors. “The term is also used to describe the service systems encompassing the promotion of emotional health; the prevention of mental and substance use disorders, substance use, and related problems; treatments and services for mental and substance use disorders; and recovery support.”

[SAMHSA (2011). Leading change: A plan for SAMHSA’s roles and actions 2011–2014. HHS Publication (SMA) 11-4629. Rockville, MD: Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.]

Cluster

“A group of suicides or suicide attempts, or both, that occurs closer together in time and space than would normally be expected in a given community.” [Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (1988). Recommendations for a community plan for the prevention and containment of suicide clusters. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, August 19, 1988, 37(S-6), 1-12]. Some researchers divide clusters into (1) “mass clusters,” in which “suicides occur closer in time than would be expected by chance following media coverage,” and (2) “point clusters,” which “involve suicides or episodes of suicidal behavior localized in both time and geographic space, often occurring within a small community or institutional setting.”

[Niedzwiedz, C., Haw, C., Hawton, K., and Platt, S. (2014). The definition and epidemiology of clusters of suicidal behavior: A systematic review. Suicide and Life-Threatening Behavior, 44(5), 569-581.] Also see Contagion.

Connectedness

“The degree to which a person or group is socially close, interrelated, or shares resources with other persons or groups. This definition encompasses the nature and quality of connections both within and between multiple levels of the social ecology, including connectedness between individuals, connectedness of individuals and their families to community organizations, and connectedness among community organizations and social institutions.”

[Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (n.d.). Strategic direction for the prevention of suicidal behavior: Promoting individual, family, and community connectedness to prevent suicidal behavior. Atlanta, GA: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Contagion

Suicide risk associated with the knowledge of another person’s suicidal behavior, either firsthand or through the media. Suicides that may be at least partially caused by contagion are sometimes called “copycat suicides.” Contagion can contribute to a suicide cluster. Also see Cluster.

Copycat suicide

See Contagion.

Evidence-based practices

Suicide prevention activities that have been found effective by rigorous scientific evaluation. See Evidence-Based Prevention page.

Gatekeeper training

Programs that teach individuals who routinely have personal contact with many others in their community (i.e., “gatekeepers”) to recognize and respond to people at potential risk of suicide. To learn more, take SPRC’s online course, Choosing and Implementing a Suicide Prevention Gatekeeper Training Program.

Help-seeking

Seeking care or assistance for emotional distress, a mental health condition, or suicidal thoughts.

Indicated intervention

An activity that targets individuals who exhibit symptoms or have been identified by screening or assessment as being at risk for suicidal behavior. For example, safety planning for people who have reported thinking about suicide is an indicated intervention. Also see Selective intervention and Universal intervention.

Intervention

An activity or set of activities designed to decrease risk factors or increase protective factors. Also see Universal intervention, Selective intervention, and Indicated intervention. To learn more, take SPRC’s online course, A Strategic Planning Approach to Suicide Prevention.

Lethal means

Objects, substances, or places someone may use to take their life.

Lethal means reduction

“Techniques, policies, and procedures designed to reduce access or availability to means and methods of deliberate self-harm.”

[U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the National Action Alliance for Suicide Prevention. (2012). 2012 National strategy for suicide prevention: Goals and objectives for action. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK109917]

Lived experience

In the field of suicide prevention, lived experience with suicide is referred to as “suicide-centered lived experience.” Individuals with suicide-centered lived experience include those who have had thoughts of suicide, survived a suicide attempt, lost a loved one to suicide, or provided substantial support to a person with direct experience of suicide.

[Roses in the Ocean. (2023). Lived experience of suicide. https://rosesintheocean.com.au/]

Means

Objects, substances, or places someone may use to take their life.

Means reduction

“Techniques, policies, and procedures designed to reduce access or availability to means and methods of deliberate self-harm.”

Nonsuicidal self-injury (NSSI)

Injury inflicted by a person on themselves deliberately, but without intent to die.

Postvention

Activities following a suicide to help alleviate the suffering and emotional distress of the survivors, and prevent additional trauma and contagion. See also Suicide loss survivor and Contagion.

Prevention

Activities implemented prior to the onset of an adverse health outcome (e.g., dying by suicide) and designed to reduce the potential that the adverse health outcome will take place.

Protective factor

A characteristic at the biological, psychological, family, or community (including peers and culture) level that is associated with a lower likelihood of problem outcomes or that reduces the negative impact of a risk factor on problem outcomes. Some protective factors include:

Strong sense of cultural identity
Feeling connected to others
Reduced access to lethal means of suicide
Cultural, religious, or moral objections to suicide

[Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2022, November 2). Risk and protective factors. https://www.cdc.gov/suicide/factors/index.html] [Risk and protective factors. (n.d.). Youth.gov. Retrieved Jan. 28, 2019 from https://youth.gov/youth-topics/youth-mental-health/risk-and-protective-factors-youth#_ftn]

Risk factor

A characteristic at the biological, psychological, family, community, or cultural level that precedes and is associated with a higher likelihood of problem outcomes, like suicide. Some risk factors include:

Previous suicide attempts
Bullying
Social isolation
History of trauma
Unsafe media portrayals of suicide

Safe messaging

Media or personal communications about suicide or related issues that do not increase the risk of suicidal behavior in vulnerable people, and that may increase help-seeking behavior and support for suicide prevention efforts. To learn more, go to the National Action Alliance Framework for Successful Messaging and Recommendations for Reporting on Suicide.

Screening

A procedure in which a standardized tool, instrument, or protocol is used to identify individuals who may be at risk for suicide. Also see Assessment. To learn more, read SPRC’s Suicide Screening and Assessment.

Selective intervention

Activities targeting a group whose members are generally at higher than average risk for an adverse health condition (e.g., suicidal behaviors) regardless of whether individual members of the group display symptoms or have been screened for the condition. For example, suicide prevention interventions targeted at victims of intimate partner violence is a selective intervention because intimate partner violence is associated with increased risk of suicidal behaviors. Also see Indicated intervention and Universal intervention.

Suicidal behaviors

Suicide, suicide attempts, suicidal ideation, and planning/preparation done with the intent of attempting or dying by suicide.

Suicidal crisis, acute phase

Suicidal ideation

A broad term used to describe a range of contemplations, wishes, and preoccupations with death and suicide.

[Harmer, B., Lee, S., Duong, T. vi H., & Saadabadi, A. (2023). Suicidal ideation. StatPearls. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK565877/]

Suicide

A death resulting from an action taken by a person with the intent or reasonable expectation that the action will result in their death.

[Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2022). Suicide prevention resource for action: A compilation of the best available evidence. National Center for Injury Prevention and Control. https://www.cdc.gov/suicide/pdf/preventionresource.pdf]

Suicide assessment

See Assessment.

Suicide attempt

When someone harms themselves with an intent to end their life, but they do not die as a result of their actions.

[Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2023, May 8). Facts about suicide. https://www.cdc.gov/suicide/facts/index.html]

Suicide attempt survivor

A person who has attempted suicide, but did not die. Also see Suicide loss survivor (below)

Suicide-centered lived experience

[Roses in the Ocean. (2023). Lived experience of suicide. https://rosesintheocean.com.au/]

Suicide loss survivor

A person who has lost a family member, friend, classmate, or colleague to suicide. Sometimes called “suicide survivor,” although the term “suicide loss survivor” is often favored to avoid confusion with “suicide attempt survivor.”

Suicide plan

An individual’s thinking about a suicide attempt that includes elements such as a timeframe, method, and place.

Suicide screening

See Screening.

Suicide survivor

See Suicide loss survivor.

Universal intervention

An activity designed to prevent negative health outcomes (e.g., suicide attempts and suicides) in an entire population regardless of the risk status of members of that population. For example, a middle school life skills curriculum that includes coping and help-seeking skills is a universal intervention, since it would be directed at all the students in that middle school regardless of their level of risk for suicide. Also see Indicated intervention and Selective intervention.

Warning signs

Behaviors and symptoms that may indicate that a person is at immediate or serious risk for suicide or a suicide attempt. To learn more, visit our Warning Signs for Suicide page.