Background: The loss of social support is one of the major risk factors for suicide. However, there are few empirical studies that have examined how a person’s suicide ideation relates to their social support.

Aims: To examine the relationship between social support and suicidal ideation.

Methods: Self-report questionnaires were sent to 2,200 randomly selected adults in Japan. The questionnaire inquired the participants about the severity of suicidal ideation, the details of current perceived social support and their degree of satisfaction with this social support. Social support and related indicators were compared among three groups of participants that varied in severity of suicidal ideation.

Results: People in the group that had suicide ideation during their lives reported receiving significantly less support from their family and had greater feelings of dissatisfaction with that support than those in the other groups. Furthermore, people who had suicide ideation during the month immediately preceding the survey reported providing less support to their family, relatives or friends, as well as receiving less support from family than other groups, and having stronger feelings of dissatisfaction with social support.

Conclusion: Our study identified a strong relationship between the severity of suicidal ideation and perceived social support.