Suicide

Suicide is killing of one’s self. Suicide may occur for

a number of reasons, including depression, shame,
guilt, desperation, physical pain, emotional
pressure, anxiety, financial difficulties, or other un
desirable situations. The World Health Organization
noted that over one million people commit suicide
every year. The predominant view of modern
medicine is that suicide us a mental health
concern, associated with psychological factors such
as inescapable suffering or fear, or other mental
disorders and pressures. A suicide attempt is
sometimes interpreted as a “cry for help” and
attention, or to express despair and the wish to
escape, rather than genuine intent to die. Most
people who attempt don not complete suicide at
first attempt; those who later gain history of
repetition have significantly higher of eventual
completion of suicide.
There is no single cause for which suicide can be
directly attributed. Many theories have been
developed to explain the causes of suicide.
Psychiatric theories emphasize mental illness.
Psychological theories emphasize personality and
poor coping skills, while sociological theories stress
the influence of social and environmental
pressures. Sociologists today consider external
circumstances, such as a traumatic event, as a
trigger instead of an actual independent cause.
Other researchers say that most people with
suicidal tendencies tend to suffer from some
mental illness such as depression, bipolar_
disorder, or some degree of anxiety disorder.
These diagnosable mental disorders are associated
with more than 90% of suicide victims. As a result,
many researchers study the causes of depression
to understand the causes of suicide.
Moreover many studies proved that more than 50
% of suicides are related to alcohol or drug
dependence. Approximately 25% of drug addicts
and alcoholics commit suicide. In adolescents the
figure is higher with alcohol or drug misuse playing
a role in up to 70 % of suicides. It had been
recommended that all drug addicts or alcoholics
are investigated for suicidal thoughts due to the
high risk of suicide. Alcoholics have a very high
suicide rate and studies show between 8% and
21% of alcoholics die by suicide. Alcoholism also
has a significant adverse impact on mental health.
Alcohol misuse is associated with a number of
mental health disorders and alcoholics have a very
high suicide rate.

A- Murder Suicide:
A murder suicide is an act in which an individual
kills one or more other persons immediately before
or at the same time as him or herself.
The combination of murder and suicide can take
various forms including:
1-Suicide to facilitate murder as in suicide
bombing.
2-Considering one’s suicide as the main act,
but murdering ones’ children, first to avoid
them becoming orphans, to be together in
expected after life, in the context of severe
depression where the person feels he is
sparing his loved ones from a horrible life, or
simply just experience the act.
3-Suicide after murder to escape punishment.
 4-Having combined objectives of suicide and
murder.
5-Joint suicide in the form of killing the other
with consent, and then killing oneself.
6-Punishment-taking revenge on those deemed
responsible and escaping the world seen as a
terrible place, as in any school shootings.
7-Committing suicide using a method that
results in the deaths of others such as
crashing as aero plane, such a suicide was
famously attempt in Fed Ex Flight 705.
8-Some cases of cult suicide may also involve
murder. Conversely, may killing have ended
in suicide.

B- Mass Suicide:
Some suicides are done under peer pressure or as
a group. Mass suicides can take with a few as two
people, in a “suicide pack”, or with a larger number
of people. An example is the mass suicide that
looks place by members of Peoples Temple, an
American cult led by Jim Jones in Guyana in 1978.
Last but not least, socio-economic factors such as
unemployment, poverty, homelessness, and even
discrimination trigger such suicidal thoughts. It is
also noted that poverty may not be a direct cause,
but it can increase the risk of suicide as it is a
major risk group for depression.
Suicide Methods:
According to Professor Keith Hawton, of the Centre
for Suicide Research, at Oxford University, “All
research suggests that showing, in detail, methods
of suicide does result in an increase of those
methods immediately afterwards, so portrayal of
methods of suicide is ill-advised”.
In countries where firearms are readily available,
many suicides involve the use of firearms. Over
52% of suicides that occurred in the United States
in 2005 were by firearm. Asphyxiation methods
(including hanging) and toxification (poisoning and
overdose) are fairly common as well. Together they
comprised about 40% of U.S. suicides during the
same time period. 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).
Exsanguinations 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.
Suicide Location:
Some landmarks have become known for high
levels of suicide attempts. The four most popular
locations in the world are reportly San Francisco’s,
Golden Gate Bridge, Toronto’s Bloor Street Viaduct,
Japan’s Aokigahara Forest and Englend’s Beachy
Head. In 2005 the Golden Gade Bridge had a count
exceeding 1200 jumpers since its construction in
1937, in 1997 the Bloor Street Viaduct had one
suicide every 22 days, and in 2002 Aokigahara had
a record of 78 bodies found within the forest,
replacing the previous record of 73 in 1998. The
suicide rate of these places is so high that
numerous signs, urging potential victims of suicide
to seek help, have been posted.