suicidal ideation

noun

: the act of thinking about or a state of preoccupation with ending one's own life : the act of considering or planning suicide

He had been hospitalized several times for depression and suicidal ideation: the previous summer he had checked himself into a hospital in Laramie.

—Melanie Thernstrom

Alleviating gender dysphoria and aligning gender expression with identity through these treatments can lower stress, reduce symptoms of depression and anxiety, and significantly lessen suicidal ideation.

—Orion Rummler

Examples of suicidal ideation in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Less than an hour later, dispatch sent out a notice about an individual with the same car and license plate number as Moore who was reportedly having suicidal ideations at a church about 15 miles from the victim’s home, according to dispatch audio obtained by PEOPLE. —Chris Spargo, PEOPLE, 12 Dec. 2025

The study reported a crude suicide rate of 82 per 100,000 person-years, while another found 57 percent had recent suicidal ideation. —Robert Alexander, MSNBC Newsweek, 10 Dec. 2025

My body and mind were shutting down after years of undiagnosed alcoholism, drug abuse, and suicidal ideation. —Outside Online, 3 Dec. 2025

Watch Powter discuss her past suicidal ideations in the interview with Griffin above. —Joey Nolfi, Entertainment Weekly, 3 Dec. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1949, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for suicidal ideation

• acclimatisation
• acclimatization
• acidification
• actualization
• annualization
• autocorrelation
• autoregulation
• beatification
• beneficiation
• biodegradation
• biotransformation
• bureaucratization

Medical Definition

suicidal ideation

noun

: the act of thinking about or a state of preoccupation with ending one's own life : the act of considering or planning suicide

Depression appears to be one of the strongest predictors of suicidal ideation but does not appear to distinguish those who have attempted suicide from those who have experienced suicidal ideation without attempts.

—E. David Klonsky et al., Annual Review of Clinical Psychology

Burnout among medical students seems to be an important predictor of subsequent suicidal ideation even without symptoms of depression.

—Liselotte N. Dyrbye et al., Annals of Internal Medicine