An ESM investigation of mental imagery and suicidal ideation
Research type
Research Study
Full title
The relationship between suicide related mental imagery and suicidal ideation – An experience sampling methodology (ESM) investigation
IRAS ID
361644
Contact name
Thomas Hewson
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Manchester
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 3 months, 20 days
Research summary
Every year over 700,000 people die by suicide. Even more think about or attempt suicide. This has a huge impact upon individuals, families, and society. That’s why it’s so important to better understand what makes people think about suicide. Then, we can improve the help we offer.
Different thoughts and feelings can lead to suicidal thoughts. This includes feeling depressed, hopeless, stuck, or a burden. However, mental imagery is often missed. This means people imagining things in their mind, like “seeing” or “feeling” something that is not currently happening.
Many people with suicidal thoughts picture what it would be like to die. These images can feel very real and upsetting. This may make someone more likely to act on their suicidal thoughts. Some people even say they don’t have suicidal thoughts but still report these strong mental pictures.
Most studies of mental images and thoughts of suicide have asked people to remember past thoughts/images. This can affect the results because people may not remember correctly. Instead, we will use a diary to collect real-time information from people. People will record the mental images and suicidal thoughts they experience. Studies show this method can be safely used by people who feel suicidal.
People from community and inpatient settings will be invited to take part if they have experienced thoughts about suicide AND mental images related to suicide in the last month. They will be invited to complete a diary on their phone six times a day for 14 days. Each diary entry will take about 2-3 minutes to complete. We will then look at the full set of diaries to see how mental images of suicide may relate to thoughts about suicide.
We hope this will help develop understanding and inform new ideas for how to help people thinking about suicide.
REC name
West Midlands - Black Country Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
26/WM/0113
Date of REC Opinion
9 Jun 2026
REC opinion
Unfavourable Opinion