Suicide Risk Following Psychiatric Hospitalization: A Narrative Review and Conceptual Synthesis

Suicide is a global and public health crisis that impacts people of all ages and backgrounds. The literature supports that individuals with serious mental illness are at a higher risk of suicide compared with those without a serious mental illness. It is also well-documented that individuals are at particularly high risk of suicide immediately post-hospitalization for a psychiatric illness. Our narrative review synthesizes and analyzes the existing literature on this phenomenon, the rates of suicide post-hospitalization, the risk factors for suicide during that time, and the interventions and strategies developed to reduce the rates. Current risk assessments struggle to identify individual patients who are at the highest risk of suicide post-discharge. Research has shifted towards focusing on brief crisis interventions to target this high-risk period. Other interventions in the literature include those that attempt to increase engagement with mental health services and increase institutional resources. We also synthesize literature on the iatrogenic risk of hospitalization, the impact hospitalization itself can have on patients, and their risk of suicide once discharged. Future directions could include further exploration of the impact these interventions have on specific populations, such as those with comorbid psychiatric and substance use conditions.