"Recognizing the Signs of Suicide" Dr. Fieve: "A family history of suicide almost doubles the chances that your patient with depression and suicidal thoughts may do it, if you've got that family history, that's critical. So you've got the patient in front of you, and you're talking about how deeply depressed they are, and they don't feel like functioning anymore, all of these comments, add up to thinking, maybe this is a suicidal patient. So you gotta start talking to them about, do you have a plan, and have they tried suicide in the past. If you've got a previous suicide attempt, you've got a family history of suicide, doubles the possibility that this person is gonna kill themselves."