The most generally accepted model of suicide risk is the risk factor model. Risk factors may be distal or proximal. Distal risk factors affect the threshold for suicide and indirectly increase an individual’s risk when they experience a proximal risk factor. Proximal or trigger factors are most closely related to the suicidalbehavior and often act as precipitants. Distal or threshold risk factors include developmental, psychological, personality, biologic, genetic, and social variables. Proximal risk factors may include life events, stress, acute episodes of mental illness, and acute alcohol or substance abuse. Suicidal individuals are different from nonsuicidal individuals in distal or threshold risk variables; for example, they may be impulsive, have specific genetic factors, and they may be moved toward suicidal behaviors by triggering risk factors (reviewed in Moscicki, 1995; Mann, Waternaux, Haas, & Malone, 1999).