If you or someone you know suffers from depression or manic depression, you understand all too well its symptoms may include feelings of hopelessness and thoughts of suicide. Whether we are experiencing suicidal thoughts ourselves or know a severely depressed person who is, there are ways that we can respond with strength and courage. Suicide can be and often is prevented with the right kind of care, treatment and support.

To understand why people with severe depression or bipolar disorder may want to end their own lives, the most important points to remember about depressive disorders are:

Depressive disorders are medical conditions associated with fluctuations in the chemistry of the body and brain. Depression and the depressive phase of bipolar disorder may cause symptoms such as intense sadness, hopelessness, lethargy, loss of appetite, disruption of sleep, decreased ability to perform ones usual tasks, loss of interest in once-pleasurable activities and persistent thoughts of death or suicide.

Depressive disorders are not signs of personal weakness or character flaws, nor are they conditions that will just "go away" by themselves.

Clinical depression and bipolar disorder are treatable with medication, changes in lifestyle, and psychotherapy. With proper treatment, there can be dramatic improvement of all symptoms, including suicidal thoughts. Without treatment, these illnesses interfere with a person's ability to relate with others and can often be life-threatening.

The act of suicide is very often a desperate, final, effort of control over the symptoms of depressive disorders. What happens to people during severe depression, as the systems that regulate emotion become disturbed, is they selectively retrieve memories that are dark and sad. Many physicians have found it helpful to point out to people with severe depression that this selective memory--only remembering the "bad times" or the disappointments in life--is a symptom of their illness, not who they are.

If you have begun to think of suicide, it is important to recognize these thoughts for what they are: expressions of a treatable medical illness. Don't let embarrassment stand in the way of vital communication with your physician, family, and friends; take immediate action.

Tell your mental health professional. Suicidal thoughts can be treated. When these thoughts occur, they are your signal that, more than ever before, you need his or her professional care.

Tell a trusted family member, friend, or other support person. When people don't understand the facts about suicide and depressive disorders, they may respond in ways that can cut off communication and worsen the problem. That's why it is important to find someone you trust and can talk with honestly. It's also why your mental health professional can be an important resource in helping you and your family understand the facts about depressive disorders.

Thinking of suicide isn't just one symptom of depressive disorders; it is what you experience when you can no longer fight the other symptoms of depression. Even when suicidal thinking occurs, treatment can help you manage your illness and gain control of your life again.

Neither DBSA Metropolitan Atlanta nor our national organization endorses or recommends the use of any specific treatment or medication listed in this publication. For advice about specific treatment or medication, patients should consult their physicians and/or mental health professional.