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• Posted November 25, 2024

Reaching Age at Which a Parent Died by Suicide Raises Risk in Adult Child

When people whose parents died by suicide reach that same age, their own risk often spikes, Danish researchers warn.

Reporting in the journal Suicide and Life-Threatening Behaviors, the researchers looked at data on more than 470,000 Danes whose parents died between 1980 and 2016. Of those, 17,806 individuals had parents who died by suicide.

The study looked at the risk of self-harm and suicide during the year before and after individuals reached the age of their deceased parent — typically about 24 years later.

Compared to the 15 years before or after, they were at roughly twice the risk of self-harm or suicide when they reached the corresponding age. Individuals whose parent died of other causes had no increased risk during the corresponding time.

"Our findings support the practice of asking suicide-bereaved individuals about age at parental suicide, identifying this as an anticipated period of increased risk," wrote a team led by Yanakan Logeswaran, of the University College of London. 

"This is also an opportunity to reinforce that suicide is not inevitable after the suicide of a parent, with an absolute risk … estimated at less than 1%," they added in a American Psychiatric Association news release.

More information

If you have suicidal thoughts, free, confidential help is available 24/7. Call or text to 988 to reach the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline. Or chat with a counselor online.

SOURCE: American Psychiatric Association, news release