Related topics: mental health
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
Physician-assisted suicide: A perspective from advocates for people with disability
Dec 23, 2009 |
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Although public opinion in the United States on physician-assisted suicide is evenly divided, about half of states have either defeated bills to legalize assisted suicide or have passed laws explicitly banning it and only ...
Researchers design a tool to induce controlled suicide in human cells
Dec 17, 2009 |
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When cells accumulate excessive errors in the proteins they produce, apoptosis is activated, that is to say, a cell suicide programme; however, beforehand the cells attempt to rectify the problem through a number of rescue ...
Cardiovascular and suicide risk raised after prostate cancer diagnosis
Dec 15, 2009 |
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Men newly diagnosed with prostate cancer have an increased risk of cardiovascular events and suicide, reports a new study in this week's PLoS Medicine. Katja Falland Fang Fang from the Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm, Sweden ...
'Anti-social network' aims to be Facebook killer app
Dec 10, 2009 |
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Facebook makes you despair? Social networking makes you want to end it all? You may be ready for online ritual suicide with the aid of a new website that helps you kill your virtual identity.
Antiepileptic drugs not linked to suicide among those with bipolar disorder
Medicine & Health / Psychology & Psychiatry
Dec 07, 2009 |
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Despite government warnings about an increased risk of suicidal thoughts and actions while taking antiepileptic drugs, these medications do not appear to be associated with increased risk of suicide attempts in individuals ...
New cancer study takes major step toward improved treatment
Dec 01, 2009 |
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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 ...
More clarity needed on law of assisted suicide
Nov 27, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Doctors need more clarity on what they can and cannot do within the current law on assisted suicide, according to an editorial by Dr Richard Huxtable and Professor Karen Forbes in this week's ...
Gene increases effectiveness of drugs used to fight cancer and allows reduction in dosage
Nov 24, 2009 |
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Researchers at the University of Granada, Spain, have found a suicide gene, called 'gene E', which leads to the death of tumour cells derived from breast, lung and colon cancer, and prevents their growth. ...
Targeting teen depression
Medicine & Health / Psychology & Psychiatry
Nov 13, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Psychologist Mona Taouk is developing a world-first questionnaire to identify young people at risk of depression and suicide.
Minn. man suspected of encouraging suicides
Oct 19, 2009 |
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(AP) -- A nurse who authorities say got his kicks by visiting Internet suicide chat rooms and encouraging depressed people to kill themselves is under investigation in at least two deaths and could face criminal ...
Monitoring social networking sites could prevent suicide
Medicine & Health / Psychology & Psychiatry
Oct 14, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Analysing posts on social networking sites such as MySpace and Facebook could help to prevent suicide, according to two Victoria University researchers.
Does work kill in the country of 35-hour week?
Medicine & Health / Psychology & Psychiatry
Oct 06, 2009 |
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Short work weeks, enviably long lunches and vacations their American or Japanese counterparts can only dream of: French labour conditions are well-known to be among the most generous in the world.
Helping Loved Ones Bereaved By Suicide Or Self-Inflicted Death
Other Sciences / Social Sciences
Oct 05, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Research by a University of Derby sociologist explores how families bereaved by suicide are finding ways to deal with the enormity of their loss. Caroline Simone, Subject Leader of Joint Honours ...
Smoking cessation drug not linked to an increased risk of self harm or depression
Medicine & Health / Medications
Oct 01, 2009 |
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There is no strong evidence that the popular smoking cessation drug varenicline increases the risk of self harm or depression compared to other cessation products, according to new research published on BMJ.com today.
Physician-assisted suicide does not increase severity of depression, grief among family members
Sep 30, 2009 |
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Unlike other forms of suicide, physician assisted death does not cause substantial regret, or a sense of rejection among surviving family members. In addition, the prevalence and severity of depression and grief among family ...
