Suicide
hideSuicide (Latin suicidium, from sui caedere, to kill oneself) is the intentional taking of one's own life. Many dictionaries also note the metaphorical sense of "willful destruction of one's self-interest" (e.g., "political suicide"). Suicide may occur for a number of reasons, including depression, shame, guilt, desperation, physical pain, emotional pressure, anxiety, financial difficulties, or other undesirable situations. The World Health Organization noted that over one million people commit suicide every year, and that it is one of the leading causes of death among teenagers and adults under 35. There are an estimated 10 to 20 million non-fatal attempted suicides every year worldwide.
Views on suicide have been influenced by cultural views on existential themes such as religion, honor, and the meaning of life. The Abrahamic religions consider suicide an offense towards God due to religious belief in the sanctity of life. In the West it was often regarded as a serious crime. Japanese views on honor and religion led to seppuku, one of the most painful methods of suicide, to be respected as a means to atone for mistakes or failure, or as a form of protest during the samurai era. In the 20th century, suicide in the form of self-immolation has been used as a form of protest, and in the form of kamikaze and suicide bombing as a military or terrorist tactic. Sati is a Hindu funeral practice in which the widow would immolate herself on her husband's funeral pyre, either willingly, or under pressure from the family and in-laws.
Medically assisted suicide (euthanasia, or the right to die) is currently a controversial ethical issue involving people who are terminally ill, in extreme pain, and/or have minimal quality of life through injury or illness. Self-sacrifice for others is not usually considered suicide, as the goal is not to kill oneself but to save another.
The predominant view of modern medicine is that suicide is a mental health concern, associated with psychological factors such as the difficulty of coping with depression, 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 a genuine intent to die. Most people who attempt suicide do not complete suicide on a first attempt; those who later gain a history of repetitions have a significantly higher probability of eventual completion of suicide.
For more information about Suicide, read the full article at
Wikipedia.
This text uses material from Wikipedia and is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.
News tagged with suicide attempts
Mental health problems in childhood may predict later suicide attempts in males
Medicine & Health / Psychology & Psychiatry
Apr 06, 2009 |
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Most males who commit suicide or need hospital care for suicide attempts during their teen or early adult years appear to have high levels of psychiatric problems at age 8, according to a report in the April issue of Archives of ...
Young adults with post-traumatic stress disorder may be more likely to attempt suicide
Medicine & Health / Psychology & Psychiatry
Mar 02, 2009 |
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Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD)—but not exposure to traumatic events without the development of PTSD—may be associated with subsequent attempted suicide in young adults, according to a report in the March issue of Archives of ...
Post-partum suicide attempt risks studied
Aug 06, 2008 |
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Although maternal suicide after giving birth is a relatively rare occurrence, suicide attempts often have long-lasting effects on the family and the infant. In a study published in the August 2008 issue of the American Jo ...
Search results for suicide attempts
Poll finds sexting common among young people
12 hours ago |
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(AP) -- Think your kid is not "sexting"? Think again. Sexting - sharing sexually explicit photos, videos and chat by cell phone or online - is fairly commonplace among young people, despite sometimes grim ...
Major impacts of climate change expected on mental health
Medicine & Health / Psychology & Psychiatry
15 hours ago |
3.4 / 5 (5) |
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Leading mental health researchers are warning that some of the most important health consequences of climate change will be on mental health, yet this issue is unlikely to be given much attention at the UN climate change ...
A greener way to get electricity from natural gas
15 hours ago |
3.2 / 5 (11) |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- A new type of natural-gas electric power plant proposed by MIT researchers could provide electricity with zero carbon dioxide emissions to the atmosphere, at costs comparable to or less than ...
Broadband stimulus moves at dial-up speeds
16 hours ago |
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Mark Morgenthaler wants nothing more than to hire 15 people to help expand his wireless Internet service, Surfnet Communications in the Santa Cruz Mountains. He can't wait to start accepting applications, interviewing candidates, ...
Newly discovered star one of hottest in Galaxy (w/ Video)
Dec 02, 2009 |
4.8 / 5 (19) |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Astronomers at The University of Manchester's Jodrell Bank Centre for Astrophysics have discovered one of the hottest stars in the Galaxy with a surface temperature of around 200,000 degrees ...
New cancer study takes major step toward improved treatment
Dec 01, 2009 |
5 / 5 (2) |
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Cancer researchers at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center have found a way to turn ineffective new cancer drugs into cancer-fighters. By using their patented chemical compound, SHetA2, researchers tricked cancer ...
CPR is successful without mouth-to-mouth, but not without oxygen
Nov 30, 2009 |
3 / 5 (1) |
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People can survive cardiac arrest if they receive only chest compressions during attempts to revive them - as advised by the current American Heart Association guidelines. But they cannot survive without access to oxygen ...
Researchers discover biological basis of 'bacterial immune system'
Nov 30, 2009 |
4.8 / 5 (4) |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Bacteria don’t have easy lives. In addition to mammalian immune systems that besiege the bugs, they have natural enemies called bacteriophages, viruses that kill half the bacteria on Earth every two days.
Is it right for drug companies to carry out their own clinical trials?
Nov 30, 2009 |
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In BMJ today two experts debate whether the conflict of interest is unacceptable when drug companies carry out clinical trials on their own medicines.
First metallic nanoparticles resistant to extreme heat
Nanotechnology / Nanomaterials
Nov 30, 2009 |
4.8 / 5 (4) |
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A University of Pittsburgh team overcame a major hurdle plaguing the development of nanomaterials such as those that could lead to more efficient catalysts used to produce hydrogen and render car exhaust less toxic. The researchers ...
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