is suicide predictable?

background: the current study aimed to test the hypothesis: is suicide predictable? and try to classify the predictive factors in multiple suicide attempts. methods: a cross-sectional study was administered to 223 multiple attempters, women who came to a medical poison centre after a suicide attempt. the participants were young, poor, and single. a logistic regression analiysis was used to classify the predictive factors of suicide. results: women who had multiple suicide attempts exhibited a significant tendency to attempt suicide again. they had a history for more than two years of multiple suicide attempts, from three to as many as 18 times, plus mental illnesses such as depression and substance abuse. they also had a positive history of mental illnesses. conclusion: results indicate that contributing factors for another suicide attempt include previous suicide attempts, mental illness (depression), or a positive history of mental illnesses in the family affecting them at a young age, and substance abuse.