Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2016 Jun 20:7:108.
doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2016.00108. eCollection 2016.

Mental Pain and Suicide: A Systematic Review of the Literature

Maria Cristina Verrocchio  1 , Danilo Carrozzino  2 , Daniela Marchetti  1 , Kate Andreasson  3 , Mario Fulcheri  1 , Per Bech  3
Affiliations
Review

Mental Pain and Suicide: A Systematic Review of the Literature

Maria Cristina Verrocchio et al. Front Psychiatry. .

Abstract

Background: Mental pain, defined as a subjective experience characterized by perception of strong negative feelings and changes in the self and its function, is no less real than other types of grief. Mental pain has been considered to be a distinct entity from depression. We have performed a systematic review analyzing the relationship between mental pain and suicide by providing a qualitative data synthesis of the studies.

Methods: We have conducted, in accordance with PRISMA guidelines, a systematic search for the literature in PubMed, Web Of Science, and Scopus. Search terms were "mental pain" "OR" "psychological pain" OR "psychache" combined with the Boolean "AND" operator with "suicid*." In addition, a manual search of the literature, only including the term "psychache," was performed on Google Scholar for further studies not yet identified.

Results: Initial search identified 1450 citations. A total of 42 research reports met the predefined inclusion criteria and were analyzed. Mental pain was found to be a significant predictive factor of suicide risk, even in the absence of a diagnosed mental disorder. Specifically, mental pain is a stronger factor of vulnerability of suicidal ideation than depression.

Conclusion: Mental pain is a core clinical factor for understanding suicide, both in the context of mood disorders and independently from depression. Health care professionals need to be aware of the higher suicidal risk in patients reporting mental pain. In this regard, psychological assessment should include a clinimetric evaluation of mental pain in order to further detect its contribution to suicidal tendency.

Keywords: mental pain; psychache; psychological pain; suicidal behavior; suicidal ideation; suicide attempt.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Flowchart of the systematic search.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. W.H.O. Preventing Suicide: A Global Imperative. Luxembourg: World Health Organization; (2014). Available from: http://www.who.int/mental_health/suicide-prevention/world_report_2014/en/
    1. Gvion Y, Horesh N, Levi-Belz Y, Fischel T, Treves I, Weiser M, et al. A aggression-impulsivity, mental pain, and communication difficulties in medically serious and medically non serious suicide attempters. J Child Adolesc Psychopharmacol (2014) 55(1):40–50.10.1016/j.comppsych.2013.09.003 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Mee S, Bunney BG, Bunney WE, Hetrick W, Potkin SG, Reist C. Assessment of psychological pain in major depressive episodes. J Psychiatr Res (2011) 45:1504–10.10.1016/j.jpsychires.2011.06.011 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Tossani E. The concept of mental pain. Psychother Psychosom (2013) 82:67–73.10.1159/000343003 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Shneidman ES. A psychological approach to suicide. In: VandenBos GR, Bryants BK, editors. Cataclysms, Crises, and Catastrophes: Psychology in Action. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association; (1987). p. 147–83.

LinkOut - more resources