A recent study from the University of Utah revealed that people who claim their own lives don’t truly give any warning signs to anyone in their surroundings.
According to a research published in the JAMA Network Open, the scientists discovered that people who die by suicide without showing prior signs such as suicidal thoughts, attempts, or diagnosed mental health conditions may have different underlying risk factors as compared to the people who do show symptoms.
Nearly half of suicide deaths involve people with no known history of suicidal behaviour and depression.
To comprehend this hidden group, scientists assessed anonymised genetic data from over 2,700 individuals who died by suicide.
They found that people who don’t show any prior signs had very few psychiatric diagnoses and fewer genetic risk factors for conditions such as depression, anxiety, and neurodegenerative disorders.
They even hide higher levels of traits like chronic low mood or neuroticism.
Lead author Hilary Coon says this challenges traditional assumptions: “There are many people at risk where it’s not that signs were missed — they may actually not be depressed.”
Because suicide prevention efforts focuses on screening for depression, these results revealed current tools may overlook a complete group of vulnerable population.
Researchers are currently probing other possible risk factors, including chronic pain, inflammation, and respiratory diseases that assist some people stay resilient.
With this study, scientists aim to assist doctors detect vulnerable groups earlier to treat them properly, even before the occurrence of classic symptoms.
