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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Public Health
Sec. Public Mental Health
Volume 12 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2024.1417817
This article is part of the Research Topic Exploring Mental Health in Vulnerable Populations in Developing Countries View all 20 articles

Suicide warning signs of self-identification in patients with mood disorders: a qualitative analysis based on safety planning

Provisionally accepted
Honghui Zhang Honghui Zhang 1Jiaxin Zhu Jiaxin Zhu 1Lu Niu Lu Niu 1*Meng Zeng Meng Zeng 1Tengwei Chen Tengwei Chen 1YueDong Chen YueDong Chen 1Xiaofei Hou Xiaofei Hou 2,3Haojuan Tao Haojuan Tao 4Yarong Ma Yarong Ma 5Kangguang Lin Kangguang Lin 6,7Liang Zhou Liang Zhou 8
  • 1 Central South University, Changsha, China
  • 2 Tianjin Anding Hospital, Tianjin, China
  • 3 Institute of Mental Health, Tianjin Anding Hospital, Tianjin, China
  • 4 Department of Psychiatry, Second Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, China
  • 5 Department of Psychosomatic, Guangzhou Brain Hospital, Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou, China
  • 6 School of Health and Life Sciences, The University of Rehabilitation, Qingdao,Shandong, Shandong Province, China
  • 7 Department of Affective Disorders, The Affiliated Brain Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou, China
  • 8 Guangzhou Brain Hospital, Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Introduction: Warning signs serve as proximal indicators of suicide risk, making early recognition imperative for effective prevention strategies. This study aimed to explore selfidentified suicide warning signs among Chinese patients with mood disorders based on safety planning framework.Methods: Researchers collaborated with patients to develop a safety plan and compiled warning signs based on it. Word frequency and network analysis were conducted to identify key warning signs. Directed content analysis categorized these signs into cognitive, emotional, behavioral, or physiological themes according to the suicide mode theory. Additionally, we examined potential variations in reported warning signs among participants with different demographic characteristics, including age, gender, and history of suicide attempts.Results: "Low mood" and "crying" emerged as prominent warning signs, with "social withdrawal" closely following. Patients commonly reported emotional themes during suicidal crises, often experiencing two to three themes simultaneously, primarily focusing on emotional, behavioral, and physiological themes. Males exhibited a higher proportion of concurrently reporting three sign themes compared to females (P< 0.05), while no difference was observed in warning signs among patients with other demographic traits.Discussion: This study offers a nuanced understanding of warning signs among mood disorder patients in China.The findings underscore the necessity for comprehensive suicide risk management strategies, emphasizing interventions targeting emotional regulation and social

    Keywords: suicide1, warning signs2, mood disorders3, safety planning4, Network analysis5, Content Analysis6, China7

    Received: 15 Apr 2024; Accepted: 25 Jul 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Zhang, Zhu, Niu, Zeng, Chen, Chen, Hou, Tao, Ma, Lin and Zhou. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Lu Niu, Central South University, Changsha, China

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.