Suicidal behavior is defined as a preoccupation or act that is focused on causing one's own death voluntarily. An intent to cause one's death is essen tial in the definition.
Suicidal ideation refers to thoughts of suicide or wanting to take one's own life.
Suicide attempt usually refers to an act focused on causing one's own death that is unsuccessful in causing death. Suicide refers to having intentionally caused one's own death. Adolescence is a stressful developmental period filled with major changes - body changes, changes in thoughts, and changes in feelings. Strong feelings of stress, confusion, fear, and uncertainty, as well as pressure to succeed, and the ability to think about things in new ways influence a teenager's problem solving and decision making abilities. For some teenagers, normal developmental changes, when compounded by other events or changes in their families such as divorce or moving to a new community, changes in friendships, difficulties in school, or other losses can be very upsetting and can become overwhelming.