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Table 3 Reasons why participants chose to disclose, chose not to disclose, and what would motivate disclosure of suicidal ideation to a mental health professional

From: Non-disclosing youth: a cross sectional study to understand why young people do not disclose suicidal thoughts to their mental health professional

Reasons for disclosing suicidal thoughts to their mental health professional

Response options

n (%)

I’m worried that suicidal thoughts will not go away, and I want help to manage them

153 (29.8%)

Suicidal thoughts are interfering with my life as much as/more than other mental health problems

152 (29.6%)

I believe that a mental health professional can help with my suicidal thoughts

125 (24.4%)

Someone I know told me I should tell my mental health professional

110 (21.4%)

Other reason/s (free text response)a

69 (13.5%)

I’ve talked about suicidal thoughts with a mental health professional in the past and found this helpful

52 (10.1%)

Suicidal thoughts have become a relatively new problem and I want to deal with them

38 (7.4%)

Reasons for not disclosing suicidal thoughts to their mental health professional

I’m concerned that my mental health professional wouldn’t kept this information confidential

133 (25.9%)

Suicidal thoughts are not interfering with my life as much as other mental health problems are

81 (15.8%)

I think that suicidal thoughts will eventually go away, or are just a phase I’ll grow out of, so there’s no point talking about them

80 (15.6%)

I’ve not talked about suicidal thoughts with a mental health professional in the past, but think that they will judge me or not respond well

74 (14.4%)

Suicidal thoughts have become a normal part of my life

74 (14.4%)

I don’t think a mental health professional can do anything about my suicidal thoughts

65 (12.7%)

My mental health professional has never asked about suicidal thoughts so I’ve never brought it up

61 (11.9%)

I’ve talked about suicidal thoughts with a mental health professional in the past, was upset by their response, and don’t want to share again

25 (4.9%)

Other reason/s (free text response)b

18 (3.5%)

Factors that would increase motivation to disclose suicidal thoughts to a mental health professional

If I knew this information would be kept confidential and not be shared with others

340 (66.3%)

If my mental health professional asked about suicidal thoughts

278 (54.2%)

If I thought that suicidal thoughts could be treated/ helped

274 (53.4%)

If I thought my mental health professional would respond without judgement

269 (52.4%)

If the suicidal thoughts became more frequent or severe

267 (52.0%)

If the suicidal thoughts started to interfere more with my work/ school/ relationships

241 (47.0%)

Other reason/s (free text response)c

20 (3.9%)

  1. Each survey question allowed for endorsement of multiple response options.
  2. aThe most common themes were ‘Wanting to get help for their suicidal thoughts’ (n=25, 36.2%) and ‘Fear of current or future outcomes of acting on their suicidal thoughts’ (n21, 30.4%). Additional themes and exemplar quotes are provided in Appendix C.
  3. bThe most common themes were ‘Fear and consequences of disclosing’ (n=11, 61.1%) and ‘They were dismissive of their own thought’ (n=4, 22.2%). Additional themes and exemplar quotes are provided in Appendix B.
  4. cThe most common themes were, ‘Assurance of no hospitalisation’ (n=7, 35.0%) and ‘If they had a good relationship with their mental health professional’ (n=6, 30.0%). Additional themes and exemplar quotes are provided in Appendix C.