Predictors of Suicide Risk in Chronic Pain Patients

Living with chronic pain can be a heavy burden. Indeed, people with chronic pain face double the risk of death by suicide compared to individuals without pain. And so it is vitally important to identify those at risk in order to get them the right help and support.

Warwick University, one of our partners, is a key contributor to chronic pain research. They’ve explored factors contributing to suicide risk in chronic pain patients and pinpointed “mental defeat” as a potential predictor.

Mental defeat can occur when individuals with chronic pain view their pain as an ‘enemy’ which takes over their life and removes their autonomy and identity. By identifying it as a prospective predictor of suicide risk, it can enable health professionals to intervene before a crisis occurs.

The downloadable poster below outlines the findings from this research, if you have been affected by this topic, help is available from the NHS.