All of the warning signs of suicide are magnified in importance if the patient is depressed. Although most depressed people are not suicidal, most suicidal people are depressed. Serious depression can be manifested in obvious sadness, but often it is rather expressed as a loss of pleasure or withdrawal from activities that had been enjoyable.

Depression is present if at least five or more of the following symptoms are present during a two-week period; at least one of the symptoms must be either depressed mood or loss of interest or pleasure in usual activities.

• Depressed mood
• Loss of interest or pleasure in usual activities
• Change in appetite or weight
• Change in sleeping patterns
• Speaking and/or moving with unusual speed or slowness
• Loss of interest or pleasure in usual activities
• Decrease in sexual drive
• Fatigue or loss of energy
• Feelings of worthlessness, self-reproach or guilt
• Diminished ability to think or concentrate, slowed thinking or indecisiveness
• Thoughts of death, suicide, or wishes to be dead

Suicide can be prevented. While some suicides occur without any outward warning, most do not. Prevent suicide among loved ones by to learning to recognize the signs of someone at risk, taking those signs seriously and knowing how to respond to them. The emotional crises that usually precede suicide are most often both recognizable and treatable. Prevent suicide through early recognition and treatment of depression and other psychiatric illnesses.