Comparing psychache, depression, and hopelessness in their associations with suicidality: A test of Shneidman’s theory of suicide

In a test of Edwin Shneidman’s theory of suicide, this study examined the contribution of psychache, depression, and hopelessness to the statistical prediction of various suicide-related criteria, for a sample of 1475 undergraduate students. Regression analyses indicated that, relative to depression and hopelessness, psychache was the psychological variable most strongly associated with suicidality, but that depression and hopelessness did contribute unique variance in the statistical prediction of some suicide criteria. In finding that psychache was the strongest statistical predictor of suicidality, results offered support for Shneidman’s theory of psychache as the pre-eminent psychological cause of suicide. Additional theoretical and practical implications for the statistical prediction of suicide risk are discussed.