prior suicide attempts
A prior suicide attempt is one of the most important predictors of further attempts and of completed suicide (Spirito & Esposito-Smythers, 2006):
• About 30% of completed suicides have a history of suicide attempts
• After a suicide attempt the risk of a further attempt is 20 times higher than in individuals without a history of attempted suicide
• The risk of a serious suicide attempt is strongly associated with the number of previous suicide attempts.