Suicide facts for kids

Suicide is when a person chooses to kill themselves. When someone kills themselves, people say that they have "committed suicide" "completed suicide" or "died by suicide”. When a person thinks about killing themselves, the person is described as suicidal.

When people start having thoughts about killing themselves, it is a medical emergency. They should not be left alone.

There are many reasons why a person might think about suicide. Most people who are suicidal have some type of mental condition or illness. They may have a chronic condition, which means it has been going on for a long time. But it may be an acute condition – which means the first symptoms of mental illness happened rather quickly.

Depression is the mental illness that most often causes a person to have suicidal thoughts. Depression may also be a symptom of other mental or medical disorders.

Depression, which can lead to suicidal thoughts, has many possible causes. For example, it may also be caused by stress, and difficult events in a person's life, like losing a job or getting sick.

Although depression is the main factor in suicide, it is also treatable and suicide is often preventable.