--- title: "Psych News Alert: Adults Diagnosed With Concussion May Be at Heightened Long-Term Risk of Suicide" description: Adults who have been diagnosed with a concussion may be at a heightened long-term risk of suicide, reports a study published today in th... image: https://alert.psychnews.org/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/MRI%20of%20brains_118491940-Jun-24-2025-06-30-02-3402-PM.jpg --- 2/8/16 12:00 AM # Adults Diagnosed With Concussion May Be at Heightened Long-Term Risk of Suicide ![Picture of Psychiatric News Alert](https://alert.psychnews.org/hs-fs/hubfs/Psych%20News%20Email%20Banners/PN-Blue-Box_rgb.png?width=50&name=PN-Blue-Box_rgb.png) [ Psychiatric News Alert ](https://alert.psychnews.org/author/psychiatric-news-alert) Share: [facebook-f icon ](http://www.facebook.com/share.php?u=https://alert.psychnews.org/2016/02/adults-diagnosed-with-concussion-may-be.html) [linkedin-in icon ](http://www.linkedin.com/shareArticle?mini=true&url=https://alert.psychnews.org/2016/02/adults-diagnosed-with-concussion-may-be.html) [Twitter icon ](https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?url=https://alert.psychnews.org/2016/02/adults-diagnosed-with-concussion-may-be.html) [pinterest-p icon ](http://pinterest.com/pin/create/link/?url=https://alert.psychnews.org/2016/02/adults-diagnosed-with-concussion-may-be.html) [envelope icon ](mailto:?body=https://alert.psychnews.org/2016/02/adults-diagnosed-with-concussion-may-be.html) | ![](https://alert.psychnews.org/hs-fs/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/MRI%20of%20brains_118491940-Jun-24-2025-06-30-04-4992-PM.jpg?width=200&height=133&name=MRI%20of%20brains_118491940-Jun-24-2025-06-30-04-4992-PM.jpg) | | | --- | --- | Adults who have been diagnosed with a concussion may be at a heightened long-term risk of suicide, reports a [study](http://www.cmaj.ca/lookup/doi/10.1503/cmaj.150790) published today in the *Canadian Medical Association Journal*. According to the authors, the findings suggest that a history of concussion may be relevant when assessing a patient's suicide risk. Donald Redelmeier, M.D., of Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre in Toronto and colleagues examined 235,110 records of patients in Ontario who had a concussion between 1992 and 2012. During the follow-up period, 667 suicides occurred, equivalent to 31 deaths per 100,000 patients annually—three times the population norm. Weekend concussions (considered more likely to be caused by recreational injuries) were associated with a one-third further increased risk of suicide compared with weekday concussions (considered more likely to be caused by occupational injuries). For people with a prior suicide attempt, a psychiatric or substance use disorder, or multiple concussions, this risk was even higher; however, even individuals who met none of these criteria still had double the long-term suicide risk following a concussion. “[C]oncussions are rarely deemed relevant for consideration by psychiatrists or other physicians when eliciting a patient’s history,” the authors wrote. “Greater attention to the long-term implications of a concussion in community settings might save lives because deaths from suicide can be prevented.” For related information, see the *Journal of Neuropsychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences* article “[Suicide and Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy](http://neuro.psychiatryonline.org/doi/abs/10.1176/appi.neuropsych.15070172?journalCode=jnp).” (Image: Triff/Shutterstock) [suicide](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/suicide), [concussion](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/concussion), [chronic traumatic encephalopathy](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/chronic-traumatic-encephalopathy), [suicidal risk](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/suicidal-risk) ## Related posts [![](https://alert.psychnews.org/hs-fs/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/NFL%20tackle_60616012-Jun-24-2025-07-50-49-1885-PM.jpg?height=200&name=NFL%20tackle_60616012-Jun-24-2025-07-50-49-1885-PM.jpg) ](https://alert.psychnews.org/2015/10/science-linking-cte-depression-and.html) [suicide](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/suicide), [depression](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/depression), [chronic traumatic encephalopathy](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/chronic-traumatic-encephalopathy) ## [Science Linking CTE, Depression, and Suicide Is Inconclusive, Researcher Says](https://alert.psychnews.org/2015/10/science-linking-cte-depression-and.html) ![Picture of Psychiatric News Alert](https://alert.psychnews.org/hs-fs/hubfs/Psych%20News%20Email%20Banners/PN-Blue-Box_rgb.png?width=50&name=PN-Blue-Box_rgb.png) [Psychiatric News Alert](https://alert.psychnews.org/author/psychiatric-news-alert) 10/9/15 12:00 AM Chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) has been a medical concept for over 80 years. 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[ Read more ](https://alert.psychnews.org/cte-from-repeated-head-impacts-causes-dementia) ```json { "@context" : "https://schema.org", "@type" : "BlogPosting", "author" : { "@type" : "Person", "name" : "Psychiatric News Alert", "url" : "https://alert.psychnews.org/author/psychiatric-news-alert" }, "dateModified" : "2025-06-24T18:32:05.196Z", "datePublished" : "2016-02-08T05:00:00.000Z", "headline" : "Psych News Alert: Adults Diagnosed With Concussion May Be at Heightened Long-Term Risk of Suicide", "image" : [ "https://alert.psychnews.org/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/MRI%20of%20brains_118491940-Jun-24-2025-06-30-02-3402-PM.jpg" ], "mainEntityOfPage" : { "@id" : "https://alert.psychnews.org/2016/02/adults-diagnosed-with-concussion-may-be.html", "@type" : "WebPage" }, "publisher" : { "@type" : "Organization", "logo" : { "@type" : "ImageObject", "url" : "https://alert.psychnews.org/hubfs/PN-Blue-Box.jpg" } } } ```