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| Psychache |
"Psychache refers to the hurt, anguish, soreness, aching, psychological pain in the psyche, the mind."
This definition appeared in the first paragraph of a 1993 article by Edwin S. Shneidman. The term continues to appear in the psychological literature.
Shneidman used the term in relation to suicide in the same paragraph as the definition: "Suicide is caused by psychache." (italics in the original)
Clinicians and scientists can "miss the mark" if they ignore this internal distress when trying to explain suicide by such variables as age, sex, and socioeconomic level.
Shneidman used the term in relation to suicide in the same paragraph as the definition: "Suicide is caused by psychache." (italics in the original)
Other terms for psychache in the psychological literature (Baryshnikov & Isometsä, 2022):
- mental pain
- psychic pain
- emotional pain
Clinicians and scientists can "miss the mark" if they ignore this internal distress when trying to explain suicide by such variables as age, sex, and socioeconomic level.
Problems with the definition
There are different ways to define psychological pain and its relationship to suicidal ideation. See the review by Baryshnikov & Isometsä (2022) for their findings and recommendations.
There are several measures of psychological pain. In 2025, Blandizzi and others reported good results for their 10-item Psychache Scale (PAS). See their article for details.
Comments on Research
Clinicians should continue to search the literature because investigations on psychache are ongoing. The measurement of psychache and its relationship to other variables like depression, hopelessness as well as factors like mental disorder diagnoses and profession (e.g., military personnel) continues to grow with new studies appearing when this page was updated in October 2025.
REFERENCES
Baryshnikov, I., & Isometsä, E. (2022). Psychological pain and suicidal behavior: A review. Frontiers in psychiatry, 13, 981353. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2022.981353
Blandizzi, C., Carlucci, L., Balsamo, M., Contardi, A., Bungaro, N., Erbuto, D., Pompili, M., & Innamorati, M. (2025). Measuring psychache as a suicide risk variable: A Mokken analysis of the Holden's Psychache Scale. Journal of affective disorders, 369, 80–86. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2024.09.160
Schneidman, E. S. (1993). Commentary: Suicide as psychache. The Journal of Mental Disease, 181, (3), 145-147.
Link: https://journals.lww.com/jonmd/Citation/1993/03000/Commentary__Suicide_as_Psychache.1.aspx
US Suicide and Crisis Line
Call or Text 988 in the United States
SAMHSA online: https://www.samhsa.gov/
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