Psychiatric News (9/4) reports a study found that “hospitalized teenagers at risk of suicide can articulate their own personal reasons for living, which can be an important aspect of safety planning and treatment.” The researchers “used retrospective data from the electronic medical records of 211 teenagers (71% female) who were admitted to the adolescent unit of a psychiatric hospital in 2023 for suicidal thoughts or behaviors.
As part of the unit’s routine clinical services, staff collected data on demographic characteristics, suicide risk, referral details for individual therapy, and reasons for living.” They found the results were “varied but were often related to family, friends, and pets as well as the adolescents’ future aspirations.”
Researchers concluded, “Identification of individualized reasons for living can provide unique insights into who and what is most important to adolescents. Reasons for living can feasibly be used to build rapport, establish therapy goals, and personalize evidence-based treatments, thereby reducing adolescents’ suicidal thoughts and behaviors.” The study was published in Psychiatric Services.
Related Links:
— “Reasons Why Suicidal Adolescents Want to Live: A Corpus-Driven Language Analysis,” Ana M. Ugueto, Ph.D., A.B.P.P., Lauren A. O’Hagan, Ph.D., and Mathijs F. G. Lucassen, Ph.D., Psychiatric Services, September 4, 2025