Essay on Causes of Suicide - 2158 Words

Causes of Suicide This essay examines the reasons why a person of good physical health decides to terminate their own life. It does not consider euthanasia, assisted or forced suicide. Compared to most aspects of psychological health it is limited in scope for research – no â€Å"follow-up† can be performed, if the act is completed, and no ethical panel would approve experiments to demonstrate a causal link. Suicide has â€Å"no one single cause or stressor† according to the Lancet 2011. Before elaborating on what causes suicide it should be understood what we mean by cause. The Oxford English Dictionary defines cause as â€Å"a person or thing that gives rise to an action, phenomenon or condition.† This essay will in part examine the methods employed†¦show more content†¦The trend of suicide frequency has stayed relatively stable over the past ten years though there has been a sharp increase since the economic downturn according to WHO data in Europe. This has been put down to effects of the crisis – with the greatest increase in Greece and lowest in Finland. It also corresponds with findings of increased prescribing of antidepressants. Suicide was the cause of 9% (second biggest cause) of male deaths in the 16-24yrs, 2009 (ONS), 1 in 5 in the 24-34yr age group. When looking at the causes of suicide it may be useful to look from an epidemiological/ public health perspective. This is owing to the potential for â€Å"copycat suicides† or mass/point clusters of suicide. This phenomenon is not a new one, going back to the â€Å"Sorrows of Young Werter† – people often share behaviours with those they associate with (similarity bias) or look up to (prestige bias). The latter is where the influence of the media comes into consideration, an aspect which has been under supervision for fear of the effect on â€Å"social learning† {Mesoudi 2009}. Genetics: As major depressive disorder, one of the factors associated with suicide risk, has an established heritability – it follows that there is at least some extent to which an argument for genetic predisposition could be argued regarding suicidal behaviour. {A. von Borczyskowski, F. Lindblad, B. Vinnerljung, R. Reintjes andShow MoreRelatedSuicide And Suicide : The Causes Of Suicide745 Words   |  3 PagesSuicide is the act of intentionally taking one’s own life in an attempt to cope with stress or cry for help. Causes of suicide include mental disorders such as depression, exposure to other suicidal individuals, or domestic violence. 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Have you ever lost a family or a friend to suicide? Many people and even I will answer this question with â€Å"yes.† The rate of death, caused by suicide, in the world is way too high. Scientist are relating most of these deaths to teens and retired army members. Every year suicide rates keep climbing. The world need to find a better solution to stopping or lower the rates of suicide. Suicide is a huge social issue that is effecting not only friends and family but,Read MoreCauses of Suicide Essay1617 Words   |  7 PagesCauses of Suicide *No Works Cited Suicide can best be described as the destructive act of voluntarily taking ones own life. Suicide often presents a real and often tragic puzzle to be solved by friends and family, and any other professionals who have been involved with someone who has committed suicide. To be able to definitively answer the question as to why an individual would commit such a deadly act seems to be a highly complex task. 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