Conditions and symptoms
What Do Suicidal Thoughts and Behaviors Mean on a Label?
Suicidal thoughts and behaviors · say it: soo-ih-SY-dul THAWTS and bee-HAY-vyerzAlso written: suicidal ideation, suicidal thinking, suicidal thoughts and behaviours
Short answer
Suicidal thoughts and behaviors means thinking about ending your life, planning it or acting on it. It is serious and help should be sought right away.
What it means
Suicidal thoughts and behaviors covers a range: thinking about death or ending your life, making plans, or acting on those thoughts. Anyone having these thoughts, or worried about someone who is, should seek help right away: contact emergency services, a doctor, or a crisis line (in the US, call or text 988). It is a medical concern that can be helped, not a personal failing.
This phrase appears on labels for antidepressants, anti-epileptic drugs and some other medicines. Antidepressant labels carry a boxed warning because studies showed a higher risk in children, teenagers and young adults, especially when starting or changing the dose. Labels ask patients and families to watch for new or worse depression, anxiety, agitation, sleep problems or unusual behaviour, and to report them promptly.
Suicidality is a broader word for the same group of thoughts and behaviors. The warning does not mean the medicine is meant to cause them; untreated depression itself carries a risk too.
Where you may see it
- Boxed warnings on antidepressant labels
- 'Warnings' sections of anti-epileptic drug labels
- Medication guides given with each prescription
📄 How it looks on a report
Monitor all antidepressant-treated patients for clinical worsening and emergence of suicidal thoughts and behaviors, especially during the initial few months of therapy.
🙅 What it does not mean
- The warning does not mean the medicine will make you suicidal; most people do not have this effect.
- It does not mean you should stop the medicine suddenly; contact your prescriber, and seek urgent help if thoughts are strong.
- Having such thoughts does not mean you are weak or beyond help.
🎯 Check yourself
Which of these is the right meaning of “Suicidal thoughts and behaviors”?
🗒️ Questions to ask your doctor
💊 Medicines whose labels mention “Suicidal thoughts and behaviors”
Plain-English explanations of each medicine, from its official FDA label.
- Bupropion Hydrochloride
an aminoketone antidepressant, a type of medicine used to treat depression
- Citalopram
a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI), a type of antidepressant medicine
- Duloxetine
A serotonin and norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor (SNRI) type of antidepressant medicine
- Escitalopram
a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI), a type of antidepressant
- Fluoxetine
a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI), a type of antidepressant medicine
- Levetiracetam
An antiepileptic medicine, meaning a medicine used to treat seizures
- Mirtazapine
An antidepressant medicine. The label describes it as having a tetracyclic chemical structure and belonging to the piperazino-azepine group of compounds.
- Paroxetine
A selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI), a type of antidepressant medicine
- Sertraline
An SSRI (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor), a type of antidepressant medicine, according to the label
- Trazodone
an antidepressant of the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) type, which the label also describes as a 5HT2 receptor antagonist
🔗 Read more from trusted sources
- “Suicidal thoughts and behaviors” on MedlinePlus ↗
US National Library of Medicine
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General information about a medical word, not advice about your own results. Ask the clinician who ordered the test what it means for you.