Abstract
Background/Objectives: Healthcare workers (HCWs) experienced marked psychological distress during and after the COVID-19 pandemic, including high levels of burnout, depression, and suicidal ideation. Italy, one of the first Western countries to be severely affected, recorded high mortality, even among healthcare staff. Emerging evidence suggests that suicidal ideation may also occur in the absence of major depressive episodes, possibly linked to subthreshold mood dysregulation and circadian rhythm disturbances, described within the construct of Dysregulation of rhythms and hyper-energy Syndrome (DYMERS). This study examined the prevalence of suicidal ideation and/or death-related thoughts among Italian HCWs, with particular attention to clinically relevant signs emerging in the absence of a full depressive episode. Methods: A cross-sectional analysis was conducted on 97 HCWs at the University Hospital of Cagliari, Italy, compared with a pre-pandemic community sample from the same region. Depressive symptoms and suicidal ideation or death-related thoughts were assessed with the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9), considering their presence both in individuals with and without a depressive episode. Daily activation and energy were measured using item 10 of the 12-Item Short Form Health Survey (SF-12), while circadian rhythm dysregulation was evaluated with the Biological Rhythms Interview of Assessment in Neuropsychiatry (BRIAN). Results: HCWs showed a significantly higher prevalence of suicidal or death-related thoughts than the community sample (14.4% vs. 5.7%, p = 0.001; OR = 2.81, 95% CI 1.4-4.4). Notably, 8.2% of HCWs without probable depression reported such thoughts; given the very small number of events (n = 4), this estimate is exploratory, and inferential statistics should be interpreted with caution. Based on descriptive data, these individuals appeared to show higher perceived activation (SF-12, item 10) and rhythm dysregulation (BRIAN). This observation is exploratory and consistent with the DYMERS heuristic framework. Conclusions: Subthreshold symptoms and DYMERS may represent critical risk factors in suicide prevention strategies for HCWs.