Suicide: The Ugly Truth
23rd July 2011 by Depressed No Comments
Suicide is regarded as a major killer of the young. In the United States alone, it is responsible for a total of 34, 598 deaths in 2007 which made it as the 10th leading cause of death in that year. The third leading cause of death in people aging from 15-24 is suicide. Most of us are confused why these individuals commit such acts. One cannot understand suicide by mere thought as this is a complex behaviour with several factors as its cause. Depression is viewed as one of the main reasons why an individual decides to take ones life. Depression can be handled by taking antidepressants but the risks when taking drugs like Zoloft especially at pregnancy may be more risky than be beneficial.
As reported, a lot of factors may lead to the commission of suicide like:
Biopsychosocial Factors
- Mental Disorders such as depression, substance abuse, schizophrenia, anxiety disorders and certain personality disorders like borderline or a combination of them.
- Family History of Suicide
- History of trauma and violence
- Major physical illness like cancer and diabetes
- Previous suicidal attempts
Environmental Factors
- Job or financial loss
- Strain in relationships
- Easy access to things used for suicide such as firearms or poisons
Socio-cultural Risk Factors
- Lack of a good support system
- Inability to access quality health care especially for mental health
- Cultural and religious beliefs (other beliefs perceive suicide as a noble act such as Harakiri in Japan)
- Exposure to suicidal behaviours
The risks for attempted suicide are more difficult to distinguish because the distinction in identifying suicidal behaviors may be subjective. These risk factors may be present in a lot of people but they are not suicidal. Statistics have also shown that men are more likely to have suicide than women. Imbalance in serotonin, a kind of neurotransmitter has been established as a major risk for suicide. This might serve as an explanation on why 90 percent of those who commit suicide have mental disorders.
Though drug therapy can be beneficial, reports were made that some can worsen the disorder leading to acts of suicide. The US FDA released a public health advisory regarding Zoloft, an SSRI antidepressant, mainly because short term studies in children and adolescents revealed that it can increase risk of suicide attempts and also because birth defects caused by Zoloft were reported by women who took the drug at the time of pregnancy.
