difficulty interacting with others Social stigma associated with mental
illness may also increase people's reluctance to enter and stay in treatment
The ability to overcome these hurdles may be further compromised by the restricted
cognitive functioning that is often associated with the suicidal state It can also be argued that
it is critical to address motivation for treatment because it may be associated with long-term risk for suicide-related
behavior and can be very different from the motivation to live. For example, a client's primary reason for thinking
about suicide may be that he is tired of living with severe chronic pain, but his reason for living is that he values his
autonomy and has pushed through difficult times in the past. The same client's principal reason not to go to
treatment is that he considers himself autonomous and has always been able to resolve his problems on his own,
but he is willing to consider treatment because he wants to manage his severe chronic pain. In this scenario, the
client's reason for living is aligned with his reason not to seek treatment. Enhancing the client's reasons for living
may reduce short-term risk by increasing his motivation to live but may inadvertently increase long-term risk by
decreasing his motivation for treatment. The primary point is that people considering suicide may have
different motivations for wanting to live and wanting treatment and it may be important to untangle and
address both.