For Parents & Caregivers

Some factors may cause people to be at a higher risk for suicide. The presence of a single risk factor doesn’t necessarily mean that a person is at high risk of suicide, but a number of risk factors together should signal concern. The presence of depression or bipolar disorder, hopelessness and/or substance misuse, in combination with other risk factors, increases an individual’s risk of suicide significantly. However, there are also protective factors that can help reduce risk. Protective factors are conditions or attributes in individuals, families, communities or the larger society that help people deal more effectively with stressful events and mitigate or eliminate risk individually or in families and communities.