Thoughts of death or suicidal ideation are common in young people aged 12 to 30 years presenting for mental health care

Table 2 Diagnostic and illness-stage correlates of suicidal ideation in young people presenting for mental health care

	% [n]
	No suicidal ideation	Any suicidal ideation	“Life not worth living”	Thoughts of death or Suicidal ideation
Diagnostic category
Depression	58.1 [108]	41.9 [78]	17.7 [33]	24.2 [45]
Bipolar	69.6 [55]	30.4 [24]	20.3 [16]	10.1 [8]
Psychosis	74.4 [90]	25.6 [31]	13.2 [16]	12.4 [15]
Other	76.9 [83]	23.1 [25]	11.1 [12]	12.0 [13]
Clinical Stage*
Stage 1a: help-seeking	83.3 [60]	16.7 [12]	9.7 [7]	6.9 [5]
Stage 1b: attenuated syndromes	64.9 [155]	35.1 [84]	19.7 [47]	15.5 [37]
Stage 2: discrete disorder	65.7 [71]	34.3 [37]	12.0 [13]	22.2 [24]
Stage 3+: recurrent or persistent major illness	66.1 [41]	33.9 [21]	12.9 [8]	21.0 [13]

Note: “No suicidal ideation” denotes HDRS item-3 score = 0; “Any suicidal ideation” denotes HDRS item-3 > 0; “Life not worth living” denotes HDRS item-3 score = 1; “Thoughts of death or Suicidal ideation” denotes HDRS item-3 score >1. HDRS = Hamilton Depression rating Scale. *Clinical stage data was missing for N = 13 cases. Chi-square testing for differences in rates of ‘no’ versus ‘any’ suicidal ideation was significantly different across diagnostic groups [χ²(3, 494) = 14.7, p < .01] as well as illness stage [χ²(3, 481) = 9.2, p < .05].

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