Suicide: Warning Signs and Treatment (Part 2)
Why People Commit Suicide
There are many reasons why people kill themselves, and we seldom
know why certain individuals choose this route. The following factors seem to
play a role in many suicides, but none of them guarantees that a person will end
his or her life. Often it is a combination of factors that seem to interact with
a person’s circumstances; the factors are unique for each person. Some of these
factors include:
Clinical depression. This type of depression is much more
than just a simple case of the blues; it is severe and debilitating. It may
surprise you to know that people who suffer from depression are at the greatest
risk for suicide after they have begun treatment and are beginning to feel
better. The reason for this is that when a person is severely depressed, they
may lack the energy to carry out suicide. When they begin to recover and feel
better, their energy begins to return and they may carry it out then.
Alcoholism and drug abuse are
associated with a higher suicide rate because these substances impair judgment.
Over half of all adolescent suicides and suicide attempts are associated with
alcohol. When a person is under the influence of alcohol, he or she has fewer
inhibitions and may also think and act in ways that would never happen when
sober. Alcoholism and drug abuse also create additional stresses in the lives of
users and may result in depression and a tendency toward desperate behavior.
Mental illness. People who have
certain disorders, such as schizophrenia, have a higher risk of suicide.
Physical illness, including
terminal illness and the illnesses common as people age, is often a factor that
contributes to people taking their own lives.
Feeling hopeless is very common
among people who commit suicide. Hopelessness may be part of clinical
depression, or it may be the result of an illness or other dire circumstance.
When a person feels hopeless, he or she feels trapped, and suicide may seem like
the only way out.
Anger motivates some people to
commit suicide. After a long, unhappy relationship and years of building anger,
these people see their suicide as a dramatic way to send a message of
retribution.
A sudden loss may precipitate suicide in some people. The
shock and grief of an enormous loss—of a person or a job—may drive a person to
such an extreme.
Experiencing a scandal or extreme embarrassment
leads some people to feel so trapped in their situation that they can think of
no other way out.
Continue in Part 3
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