LAUSR

In this issue, Griffin and colleagues [1] present data on repeat hospital presentations among those who visit the hospital due to suicidal thinking (also called suicidal ideation). They found that about 4 in 10 people who visited the hospital once for suicidal thinking did so again within five years. Just under 2 in 10 people visited the hospital again for a more severe reason (e.g., self-harming behaviors). This paper had many strengths including the large, high-risk, longitudinal sample that provided insight into the long-term outcomes among those who visit the hospital due to suicidal thinking. Although there are many strengths to this paper, for the remainder of this commentary, I will focus on one particular strength: the use of suicidal thinking as a valuable clinical endpoint. Large longitudinal studies typically focus on suicidal behavior rather than suicidal thoughts, making this strength particularly unique. Although work on suicidal behaviors is incredibly valuable, as others (e.g., Jobes and Joiner [2]) have noted, there is also great value in studying suicidal thinking. In the sections below, I will: (1) discuss reasons why suicidal thinking is a valuable clinical endpoint and (2) propose several (of many) areas where research on suicidal thinking is most needed. Why should we study suicidal thinking? We have a better chance to help more people in need. Cross-national prevalence studies [3] find that just under 3% of people will attempt suicide in their lifetime but more than three times that number (9.2%) will have suicidal thoughts. Focusing on suicidal thinking allows researchers to study a far larger group of individuals. Moreover, individuals who have suicidal thoughts are one of the highest risk groups for eventual suicidal behaviors and death [4]. Researchers interested in studying suicidal behaviors and death would find few groups at greater risk for suicide than those who have had suicidal thoughts. Indeed, one of the only groups at greater risk for (subsequent) suicidal behaviors and suicide death are people who have already attempted suicide [4]. Although suicide attempters are an obviously high-need group, by definition