Table 3 Nature of the death wish
L-PDW (N = 50) N (%) | NL-PDW (N = 217) N (%) | P-value | |
|---|---|---|---|
Characterization of the death wish | |||
A desire for a natural death that just happens | 13 (26) | 37 (17) | 0.025 |
A desire to not wake up tomorrow and die in my sleep | 20 (40) | 118 (54) | |
I feel my current situation is unliveable | 1 (2) | 10 (5) | |
A wish to end my life myself | 10 (20) | 19 (9) | |
A wish for someone to help me end my lifea | 1 (2) | 21 (10) | |
I do not know | 5 (10) | 12 (6) | |
Frequency of thinking about the death wish | |||
Rarely | 11 (22) | 19 (9) | 0.111 |
Every month | 5 (10) | 21 (10) | |
Every week | 12 (24) | 46 (21) | |
Every day | 3 (6) | 31 (14) | |
All the time | 1 (2) | 5 (2) | |
It varies, sometimes frequently, sometimes not very often | 18 (36) | 95 (44) | |
Strength of the death wish in the past week | |||
Median (Q1-Q3) | 5 (2–6) | 5 (3–7) | 0.046 |
Strength of the wish to live in the past week | |||
Median (Q1-Q3) | 5 (3–7) | 5 (3–6) | 0.938 |
Relative strength of the death wish and the wish to live in the past week | |||
The wish to live was stronger | 21 (42) | 74 (34) | 0.467 |
About the same | 19 (38) | 102 (47) | |
The death wish was stronger | 10 (20) | 41 (19) | |
Alternation between the death wish and the wish to live | |||
In my case the death wish is always stronger | 7 (14) | 40 (18) | 0.572 |
In my case the wish to live is always stronger | 7 (14) | 21 (10) | |
Some periods my wish to live is stronger, at other times my death wish is dominant | 36 (72) | 156 (72) | |
Having made concrete plans/taken steps concerning the death wish | |||
No | 42 (84) | 174 (80) | 0.690 |
Yes | 8 (16) | 43 (20) | |
Having seriously considered attempting suicide in the past 12 monthsb | |||
Never | 23 (46) | 90 (42) | 0.749 |
Ever | 25 (50) | 110 (51) | |
Having made a suicide attempt in the past 12 monthsc | |||
Yes | 0 (0) | 3 (1) | 0.507 |
No | 25 (50) | 100 (46) | |
I don’t want to answer this question | 0 (0) | 7 (3) | |
Communication about the death wish | |||
No, I have not discussed it with anyone | 12 (24) | 91 (42) | 0.024 |
Yes, with my spouse/partner | 15 (30) | 42 (19) | 0.124 |
Yes, with (a) sibling(s) | 4 (8) | 18 (8) | 1.000 |
Yes, with (a) friend(s) | 13 (26) | 34 (16) | 0.099 |
Yes, with my child(ren) and grandchild(ren) | 2 (4) | 34 (16) | 0.036 |
Yes, with my doctor and/or other health care professionals | 11 (22) | 66 (30) | 0.299 |
Other | 6 (12) | 6 (3) | 0.012 |