Cognitive Distortion in Suicidal Behavior

Cognitive distortion has been proposed as one of the endophenotypes of suicidal behavior, and a therapeutic target in the suicidal patient approach. This article provides a systematic review of the existing literature testing relations between cognitive distortion and suicidality, across various diagnostic and demographic populations, using different kinds of neurocognitive tasks, together with imaging or electrophysiological test to measure the alteration of brain regions during the neurocognitive tasks. Cognitive distortion is an important factor in the generation process of suicidal behavior and should be a promising target in the prevention and treatment of suicidal behavior. Future study needs to pay attention to the consistency of samples including psychiatric diagnosis, time period between the last suicide attempt (SA) and investigation day, and the mechanisms how the genes related with suicidal behavior together with environmental factors alter the risk of suicidal behavior through their influence on cognitive distortion.