Causes of Suicidal Thoughts

Many people experience suicidal thoughts at some time in their lives. Individuals with such thoughts may wonder if they are normal. In otherwise healthy people, such thoughts are often brought about by a sudden, unexpected, and usually negative change in life circumstances Sleep deprivation that can be the result of having a very late bedtime or being unable to go to sleep is just one lifestyle issue that can increase the risk of suicidal thoughts and attempts. Suicidal ideation may be part of many mental illnesses, including depression,bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, and drug or alcohol abus Strong evidence exists that depression and many other forms of mental illness can be passed from parent to child and that a tendency toward suicidal ideation and suicide is likewise inherited.

People who have a history of previous suicide threats or attempts are at higher risk of attempting suicide in the future In rare instances, suicidal thoughts may be associated with medication side effects, as with some asthma medication (for example, Singulair), antiseizure medications, antidepressants (including Prozac, Paxil), or certain medications that treat the human immunodeficiency virus (such as etravirine).

The risk of developing suicidal thoughts in reaction to medications is thought to be higher in children and teens, although still uncommon, compared to adults o Divorce, loss of job, legal trouble, and financial difficulties often grow from a dependence on alcohol or drugs and can bring about thoughts of suicide.

Mental illness: For someone with a diagnosed mental-health problem such as schizophrenia or someone who has engaged in self mutilation or attempted suicide in the past, thoughts of suicide take on a new dimension of importance

Symptoms of Suicidal Thoughts

experienced any emotional loss
The risk of suicide increases dramatically when kids and teens have access to firearms at home, and nearly 60% of all suicides in the United States are co mmitted with a gun

physical or sexual abuse lack of a support network, poor relationships with parents or peers, and feelings of social isolation dealing with homosexuality in an unsupportive family or community or hostile school environment.

Remember that any ongoing conflicts between a parent and child can fuel the fire for a teen who is feeling isolated, misunderstood, devalued, or suicidal. Get help to air family problems and resolve them in a constructive way. Also let the mental health professional know if there is a history of depression, substance abuse, family violence, or other stresses at home, such as an ongoing environment of criticism

Statistics on Suicide
Up to 15% of those who are clinically depressed die by suicide. In 1997, suicide was the 8th leading cause of death in the United States. 10.6 out of every 100,000 persons died by suicide. The total number of suicides was approximately 30,535. In 1996 there were an estimated 500,000 suicide attempts. There are an estimated 8 to 25 attempted suicides to 1 completion; the ratio is higher in women and youth and lower in men and the elderly. More than four times as many men than women die by suicide. However, women report attempting suicide about twice as often as men. Suicide by firearms is the most common method for both men and women, accounting for 58% of all suicides in 1997. 72% percent of all suicides and 79% of all firearm suicides are committed by white men. The highest suicide rate was for white men over 85 years of age-65 per 100,000 persons. Over the last several decades, the suicide rate in young people has increased dramatically. In 1997, suicide was the 3rd leading cause of death in 15 to 24 year olds-11.5 of every 100,000 persons-following unintentional injuries and homicide. The suicide rate among children 10 to 14 years old was 303 deaths among 19,040,000 children in this age group. For adolescents aged 15 to 19, there were 1,802 deaths among 19,068,000 adolescents. The gender ratio in this age group was 5:1 (males: females). Among young people 20 to 24 years of age, there were 2,384 deaths among 17,512,000 people in this age group. The gender ratio in this age group was 7:1 (males: females). The majority of suicide attempts are expressions of extreme distress that need to be addressed, and not just a harmless bid for attention. A suicidal person should not be left alone and needs immediate mental health treatment.

Ismael grabbed the gun and slowly rubbed it across his face. Then he pulled the trigger and there was a shot. Bang. One more person dead in the city. It's getting to be a vice. First he grabbed the revolver that was in a desk drawer, rubbed it gently across his face, put it to his temple, and pulled the trigger. Without saying a word. Bang. Dead

Youth Suicide Rate: 1995-1997 - 2005-2007

Definition: Number of suicides per 100,000 youth age 15 - 24

Many faith groups within Christian, Muslim, Jewish and other religions sincerely believe that God gives life and therefore only God should take it away. Suicide would then be "considered as a rejection of God's sovereignty and loving plan". 1 They feel that individuals are all stewards of their own lives, but that suicide should never be an option. This is an important belief for members of these religious groups. They would probably be extremely reluctant to choose suicide (including physician assisted suicide) for themselves. But, for each deeply religious individual in North America, there are many nominally religious or secular persons. Substantial numbers of adults who have liberal religious beliefs treat euthanasia as a morally desirable option in some cases. There are also many secularists, atheists, agnostics etc. who actively disagree with religiously based arguments. Many of these folks would like to retain suicide as an option in case they develop a terminal illness and life becomes unbearable.

Some people wish to die because they are suffering from clinical depression. This is another argument in favor of strict controls to confirm that a patient requesting aid in dying is "of sound mind"

Religious aspects of euthanasia: There are two main arguments offered by Christians, and those of other faiths, that advise against an individual seeking suicide, for whatever reason:
Life is a gift from God, and that "each individual [is] its steward." 3 Thus, only God can start a life, and only God should be allowed to end one. An individual who commits suicide is committing sin. God does not send us any experience that we cannot handle. God supports people in suffering. To actively seek an end to one's life would represent a lack of trust in God's promise.

Of course, there is a significant and growing percentage of Agnostics, Atheists, Humanists, secularists, non-Christians and liberal Christians in North America who do not accept these theologically based arguments. They might argue:
Each person has autonomy over their own life. Persons whose quality of life is nonexistent should have the right to decide to commit suicide, and to seek assistance, if necessary, to achieve this. Sometimes a terminal illness is so painful that it causes life to be an unbearable burden; death can represent a relief to the intolerable pain.

An active political question is whether individuals should be allowed to choose suicide, or whether they should be forced to follow the theological beliefs of the dominant religionz. This point is similar to that raised in discussions on choice in abortion and compulsory prayer in public schools.
Murdersuicide
Main article: Murdersuicide A murdersuicide is an act in which an individual kills one or more other persons immediately before or at the same time as him or herself.

Suicide attack
Main article: Suicide attack

A suicide attack is when an attacker perpetrates an act of violence against others, typically to achieve a military or political goal, that results in his or her own death as well. Suicide bombings are often regarded as an act of terrorism.

Mass suicide
Main article: Mass suicide Some suicides are done under peer pressure or as a group. Mass suicides can take place with as few as two people, in a "suicide pact", or with a larger number of people. An example is the mass suicide that took place by members of the Peoples Temple, an American cult led by Jim Jones in Guyana in 1978.

Suicide pact
Main article: Suicide pact A suicide pact describes the suicides of two or more individuals in an agreed-upon plan. The plan may be to die together, or separately and closely timed. Suicide pacts are generally distinct from mass suicide. The latter refers to incidents in which a larger number of people kill themselves together for the same ideological reason, often within a religious, political, military or paramilitary context. Suicide pacts, on the other hand, usually involve small groups of people (such as married or romantic partners, family members, or friends) whose motivations are intensely personal and individual.

Metaphorical suicide
The metaphorical sense of "willful destruction of one's self-interest",
[13]

for example political suicide

Judicial suicide
See also: murdersuicide A person who has committed a crime may commit suicide to avoid prosecution and disgrace, such as in murdersuicides. Nazi leader Hermann Gring, a high-ranked Nazi and head of the Luftwaffe, committed suicide with cyanide capsules rather than be hanged after his conviction at the Nuremberg Trials.
[74]

Some school shootings, including the Columbine andVirginia Tech massacres, concluded with

the perpetrators committing suicide.

Military suicide
Main articles: Suicide attack and :Category:Military personnel who committed suicide

A kamikaze attack on the escort carrierUSS White Plains

In the final days of World War II, some Japanese pilots volunteered for kamikaze missions in an attempt to forestall defeat for the Empire of Japan, while Japanese ground forces initiated banzai charges. Near the end of WWII the Japanese designed the Ohka, a small aircraft whose only purpose was kamikaze missions. Similarly, units of the Luftwaffe flew Selbstopfereinsatz (self-sacrifice missions) against Soviet bridges

Dutiful suicide
Dutiful suicide is an act, or non-fatal attempt at the act, of fatal self-violence at one's own hands done in the belief that it will secure a greater good, rather than to escape harsh or impossible conditions. It can be voluntary, to relieve some dishonor or punishment, or imposed by threats of death or reprisals on one's family or reputation (a kind of murder by remote control)

Suicide as an escape
In situations where continuing to live is intolerable, some people use suicide as a means of escape. Some inmates in Nazi concentration camps are known to have killed themselves by deliberately touching the electrified fences. As Germany faced inevitable defeat in mid1945, there were unprecedented waves of suicides amongst Germans in the final weeks of the war (see Mass suicides in 1945 Nazi Germany

Methods

Percent of suicides that are by firearm in the United States, by gender and age, 19992005. Data from the CDC.

Main article: Suicide methods The leading method of suicide varies dramatically between countries. The leading methods in different regions include hanging, pesticide poisoning, and firearms.
[94] [93]

A 2008 review of 56 countries based on

WHO mortality data found that hanging was the most common method in most of the countries, suicides. accounting for 53 percent of the male suicides and 39 percent of the female
[96] [95]

Worldwide 30% of suicides are from pesticides. The use of this method however varies In the United States 52% of
[97]

markedly from 4% in Europe to more than 50% in the Pacific region. suicides involve the use of firearms.

Asphyxiation (such as with a suicide bag) and poisoning are fairly

common as well. Together they comprised about 40% of U.S. suicides. Other methods of suicide include blunt force trauma (jumping from a building or bridge, self-defenestrating, stepping in front of a train, or car collision, for example). Exsanguination or bloodletting (slitting one's wrist or throat), intentional drowning, self-immolation, electrocution, and intentional starvation are other suicide methods. Individuals may also intentionally provoke another person into administering lethal action against them, as in suicide by cop. Whether or not exposure to suicide is a risk factor for suicide is controversial. to find a relationship between suicides among friends,
[99] [98]

A 1996 study was unable

while a 1986 study found increased rates of

suicide following the televisation of news stories regarding suicide uthensia refers to the practice of intentionally ending a life to relieve pain and suffering

Hinduism
In Hinduism, there are a number of views regard to suicide. Generally, committing suicide is considered a violation of the code of ahimsa and therefore equally sinful as murdering another. Some scriptures state that to die by suicide (and any type of violent death) results in becoming a ghost, wandering earth until the time one would have otherwise died, had one not committed suicide.
[4]

Although not prescribed by any

Hindu scripture;

[5]

the currently defunct and proscribed practice of sati facilitated self-immolation of

widows in their husband's pyre in Middle age India. Hinduism accepts a man's right to end one's life through the non-violent practice of fasting to death, termed Prayopavesa.
[6]

But Prayopavesa is strictly restricted to people who have no desire or ambition

[6]

left, and no responsibilities remaining in this life. [edit]Jainism

Jainism is one religion that permits suicide with restrictions. Jain munis & elderly have been known to starve themselves to death, though there is no record of application of any other violent means due to heavy insistence on non-violence. Jainism is termed Santhara. [edit]Buddhism According to Buddhism, individuals' past acts heavily influence what they experience in the present; present acts, in turn, become the background influence for future experiences (thedoctrine of karma). Intentional action by mind, body or speech have a reaction. This reaction, or repercussion, is the cause of conditions and differences one encounters in life. Buddhism teaches that all people experience substantial suffering (dukkha), in which suffering primarily originates from past negative deeds (karma), or may result as a natural process of the cycle of birth and death (samsara). Other reasons for the prevalence of suffering concern the concepts of impermanence and illusion (maya). Since everything is in a constant state of impermanence or flux, individuals experience dissatisfaction with the fleeting events of life. To break out of samsara, Buddhism advocates the Noble Eightfold Path. For Buddhists, since the first precept is to refrain from the destruction of life, including one's self, suicide is seen as a negative form of action. If someone commits suicide in anger, he may be reborn in a sorrowful realm due to negative final thoughts.
[10] [8][9] [7]

The practice of non-violent fasting to death which is sanctioned by

However, unlike Christianity and other religions,

Buddhism does not condemn suicide, but rather states that the reasons for suicide are often negative and thus counteract the path to enlightenment.

There is one Buddhist tale of a bhikkhu named Godhika

[11]

who had repeatedly attained temporary

[11]

liberation of mind but was unable to gain final liberation due to illness.

Godhika chose to take his own The Buddha was quoted as

life while in a state of temporary liberation to be reborn in a high realm. saying Such indeed is how the steadfast act: They are not attached to life. Having drawn out craving at its root

[11]

Godhika has attained final Nibbaana.

[11]

There is a similar story of a bhikkhu named Vakkali who committed suicide upon becoming an arhant.
[11]

Ultimately, tales like these point to a Buddhist belief that suicide may be acceptable ("good")

if it will lead to non-attachment. However, people who have achieved enlightenment do not commit suicide. In both above cases they were not enlightened before attempting suicide but they became enlightened during or following their deaths.
[12]

In an entry in the The Encyclopedia of Religion, Marilyn J. Harran wrote the following: Buddhism in its various forms affirms that, while suicide as self-sacrifice may be appropriate for the person who is an arhat, one who has attained enlightenment, it is still very much the exception to the [13] rule The Channovda-sutra gives yet another example of an arhant who committed suicide Suicide in Pakistan has been a long-term social issue. Although incidence of suicide are not very common yet they are often reported in the press and newspapers throughout the country as well as by several non-governmental organisations. However, diagnosing and covering suicide cases has generally been difficult in the local culture due to a number of social stigmas and legal issues that bind the problem; given that suicide is prohibited in Islam, there are various obstacles which come along in openly discussing the phenomenon in Pakistan, a predominantly Muslim country.
[1]

Suicide is considered a

criminal offence, with punitive laws imposed in place for attempted suicide. National suicide statistics are neither compiled nor officially reported to the World Health Organisation, thus leaving any obtained data to be neglected and underreported. While suicide patterns have traditionally been low, there has been a slow and steep increase in the past few years.
[citation needed] [2]

One analysis of suicide reports, based over a period of two years, showed over 300 suicidal deaths in Pakistan from 35 different cities.
[1]

The findings showed that men outnumber women by 2:1 and that the

majority of men who commit suicide tend to be unmarried; the trend for women, however, is the opposite. Research also indicated that the majority of subjects were under the age of 30 and that "domestic problems" are the main reason stated for suicide.
[1]

These include unemployment, health issues, poverty,

[3]

homelessness, family disputes, depression and a range of social pressures. Hanging, use of insecticides and firearms are the most common methods for carrying out suicide in Pakistan.

In the wake of terrorism and militancy gripping the country, there has additionally been a rise in the concept of suicide bombings as well

International Suicide Statistics

Over one million people die by suicide worldwide each year. The global suicide rate is 16 per 100,000 population. On average, one person dies by suicide every 40 seconds somewhere in the world. 1.8% of worldwide deaths are suicides. Global suicide rates have increased 60% in the past 45 years.

Map of International Suicide Rates