Myth: Those Who Die by Suicide Had a Mental Illness
Often, people will say that people who die by suicide must have a mental illness, because they believe there is no reason short of mental illness that would cause someone to die by suicide. However, there are other reasons.
Fact: Many Suicide Deaths Are Without a Mental Health Diagnosis
Not all people who die by suicide have a diagnosed mental illness. Even using retrospective psychological autopsies, which have known biases, some people don’t present with mental health issues.
One could argue, and many do, that even if they didn’t have a diagnosis, they still had a mental illness. This may be true in some cases, but it’s certainly untrue in others. Claims are thrown out that 90% of suicide deaths had a mental illness, but there’s a problem with the research that supports this assertion. The way that mental health illness is defined is so broad that it catches a large percentage of the general population.
Learn More
The term “mental illness” is thrown around without much precision. Sometimes, clinicians mean a specific diagnosis from the DSM-V. However, the public generally thinks about mental illness as what a clinician would call “serious mental illness.” Serious mental illness is differentiated from any mental illness by the degree to which it impacts the person’s life. While some diagnoses seem to lead to greater impact, there is a great deal of variation even within diagnoses.
An estimated 22.8% of the population of America has a mental illness – even more if you add in undiagnosed substance use disorder and alcohol use disorder. A small percentage of people with a mental illness will die by suicide even if a large percentage of those who die by suicide have a mental illness.
Some who believe that all people die by suicide had a mental illness take a fundamental view that mental illness is distress and impact, which is the broader definition used by the APA in the DSM-V. Again, it’s not a widely held belief, but it is understandable. Certainly, suicide is an impact – often a maladaptive impact.
Evidence
Because of the varying definitions of what mental illness is, it’s difficult to narrow in on a percentage of people who die by suicide and have a mental illness. It is not, however, hard to say that not everyone who dies by suicide has a diagnosable mental illness. While the rate of mental illness in those who have died by suicide does seem elevated compared to the general population, it’s far from the reported numbers.
In Support of the Myth
None identified.
To Refute the Myth
The suicide rate for those with serious mental illness is elevated.
"Addressing suicide: The final nail in the mental illness coffin?" (2022)
Case studies indicate that the rate isn’t 100%.
Unclear or Mixed Support
None identified.
Learn more about suicide myths – and the truths behind them – by following the links below.