A change of suicide ideation just before & after a suicide attempt was studied to test whether a cathartic effect exists &, if so, to identify factors that may affect it. 88 suicides attempters were studied. Strength of suicide ideation was evaluated by 11 steps from 0 to 10, where 0 indicated no suicide ideation. Scores of suicide ideation decreased significantly after the suicide attempt in comparison with those just before. Significant decreases in scores of suicide ideation were seen in each generation under 60 years of age but not in those over 60 years. Scores of suicide ideation were significantly higher in the group of F4 classified by ICD-10 than those of F2. (20 refs.)