Why do people commit suicide?

picture from google.com :)

Here are the facts:

• In 1996, among teenagers and young adults suicide took more lives than cancer, heart disease, AIDS, birth defects, strokes, pneumonia, the flu, and chronic lung diseases *combined*.
• More people die from suicide than from homicide.
• Rates of suicide increase with age and are highest for those over 65.
• The most common method of commiting suicide is with a firearm.
• Men are more likely to complete a suicide (and men are more likely to use firearms), but women make more attempts.
• From 1980 to 1996 the rate of suicides among children 10 to 14 years of age.

All of these facts are taken from *The Surgeon General's Call to Action to Prevent Suicide*, published in 1999 by the Office of the Surgeon General of the United States (Satcher, in Ciccarelli & Meyer, 2006). Many of these facts might come as a suprise. We could see one fact the day before, 2 out of 3 people who suicide at Mall are Men.

What are the signs of impending suicide?
Ciccarelli and Meyer (2006) explain that sometimes there are none, but DEPRESSION is one of the most common mental disorders associated with suicide, and depression does have signs:

• feelings of hopelessness or emptiness (95% ppl have ever feeling this)
• lack of energy or fatigue (sure, especially if you have a full-time work)
• anhedonia (inability to feel pressure or enjoyment)
• irritability (you were get the mitten by your spouse, maybe?)
• sleeping problems (too much sleep or too little)
• eating more or less than usual (hmmm)
• physical symptoms that persist, such as headaches, stomachaches, or pain (hey, don't take it piddling!)

People who are depressed and intend to commit suicide usually do talk about it, and this communication should always be taken seriously. There is a long-standing belief that "people who talk about it just want attention and won't really follow through," but this is not at all true. Satcher (2001) explain that talking about commiting suicide is a kind of "dress rehearsal", and people who intend to commit suicide may clear out desks and lockers, settle their finances, write out wills, and even seem in relatively good spirits because they have made the decision to "end it" and are looking forward to the escape (in Ciccarelli & Meyer, 2006).

What can be done to prevent suicide?
Here are some guidelines from the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention:

• Listen with sincere attitude of concern
• Avoid giving unasked-for advice
• Ask them if they experienced feeling like this before and how they managed to cope with it then
• Share a time when you felt the same way and assure them that things can and will change
• Ask them if they are feeling suicidal
• Stay with them; do something together
• If you have immediate concern, call the police for emergency intervention
• Give them the number for the suicide prevention hot line and make sure they call

Above all, a person who tries to prevent a suicide and fails should not feel responsible. In the end, if a person committed to the act of suicide succeeds, there was nothing that any bystander could really do to prevent it.

reference: Ciccarelli, S. K., Meyer, G. E. 2006. Psychology. New Jersey: Pearson Education, Inc.