Depression and suicide attempt

mental picture and felo-de-se exertionSuicide is the most destructive behavior of human. in that location atomic number 18 many seek factors that make stack commit felo-de-se. somewhat atomic number 18 biological that genetic and neurotransmitters may play a manipulation in happen for self-annihilation. many ar clinical that mental disorders, peculiarly mood disorders, schizophrenia, anxiety disorders and certain personality disorders contri excepte to dangerous behaviors. Some argon psychosocial that lack of social reward and sense of isolation in like manner emergence the risk of felo-de-se (Suicide Prevention Resource Center, n.d.). These factors are strategic to understand wherefore people have dangerous behaviors. For example, the suicides in Hong Kong dissolve be explained by clinical and psychosocial factors which range from psychiatric illness and a history of former(prenominal) suicide attempt to unemployment and the absence of social support (Shu iyuan et al., 2006). Among different risk factors, major first is a pregnant unriv solelyed that it is both the strongest risk factors for attempted suicide in adults and youths. People stupefyed from belief are at a greater potential to attempt suicide.Lets localize depressive disorder for the purposes of subsequent discussion. It is the most reciprocal mental disorder. Clinical picture is generally acknowledged to be to a greater extent serious than just sombreness or normal get down seeings. It is characterized by a ill discourage mood that persists at least two weeks, with at least 5 defining features (Robert, James Susan, 1996). For example, people with imprint may experience a lack of interest and pleasure in daily activities, significant cargo loss or gain, insomnia or excessive sleeping, lack of energy, and so forth The depressed mood a good enough deal leads to constant negative calling and sometimes tenderness ab uptake. Extreme depression can culmina te in its sufferers attempting or repeated thoughts of death and committing suicide.The sum up risk of suicide by depression is caused by its association with suicidal ideation. This depression-suicidal ideation link has been documented in research studies conducted with Asiatic adolescents. In a area of Korean full(prenominal) school students (Rebecca Vivien, 2006), depression was found to be the strongest and most consistent predictor of suicidal behaviors. Students who had high scores on depression were 5.31 times more(prenominal) likely to account suicidal ideas and 3.19 times more likely to attempt suicide, as compared to those with impoverished scores. It shows that depressed people have a higher chance to think about suicide whether or not they intend to act on these thoughts. The risky people to commit suicide, however, are not those who are severely depressed because they often do not have the energy to equipment casualty themselves. It is when their depression lif ts and they gain increased energy that they may be more likely to attempt suicide.Nevertheless, the link between depression and suicide attempt is not solely a direct causal relationship, but in fact, it is a complication of depressive illness in combination with other risk factors to trigger the suicide attempt. To begin with, stressful life events combined with depression may lead to suicide. Those stressful events often precede a suicide attempt. They may include death of a relative, breakup, loss of a job, etc. They are rarely a sufficient cause of suicide, but they often act as precipitating factors in issue people (PreventionLane, .n.d.).On the other hand, sociodemographic factors are often associated with depression. The combination of them brings about suicide attempt. For example, young-bearing(prenominal)s are potently associated with depression that they are more predisposed to depression compared to males. Females are besides strongly related to suicide attempt that they are more likely to attempt suicide than males that there are cardinal female attempts for each male attempt (Chris, 2010). Intriguingly, it shows that gender, as a sociodemographic factor, has influences on depression and suicide attempt as well. In other words, it is the antecedent that triggers the occurrence of depression and suicide attempt. The effect of gender on depression and suicide attempt may stem from gender stereotypes and identity roles (Christina, 2004). There are different social expectations for males and females that females are encouraged to express their feelings spot males are not, hence increase the chances of depression being triggered by social factors, such(prenominal) as loss of friends. So females are more likely to suffer from depression, which in turn, lead to subsequent suicide attempt.Besides gender, age also has a significant relationship with depression and suicide attempt. People in two age groups are more vulnerable to depression and suicide attempt which are adolescent and elderly respectively. Their risks of suicide are really high, especially the adolescent. Suicide of adolescent has become a global switch off that they are now the group at highest risk in a third of countries, in both developed and developing countries (World Health Organization, n.d.). go in Hong Kong, the trend of adolescent suicide is on the rise in recent years with an average annual growth of 10%, duration the first 8 months in 2010, youth suicide figures have been equal with the 2009 full year figures. So far this year, there were 26 young people under 25 years old committed suicide cases and 30 cases of suicide attempt were rescued (The Samaritan Befrienders Hong Kong, 2010). For the suicide attempt of adolescents, depression is the major risk factor. There are a couple of reasons why adolescents develop depression. It can be family problem because they dont have a good relationship with the parents. It may be a reaction to a sad event , such as a breakup with a boyfriend or girlfriend or failure at school. There is also a personality predisposition to depression. Adolescents who have low self-esteem and feel poor sense of control over negative events are particularly at risk to become depressed when they experience stressful events.There are some more sociodemographic characteristics that are potential risk factors for depression and suicidal attempt, such as marital status, sexual orientation and employment status. disjoint people, homosexuals and unemployed people are both found to be strongly linked to depression and suicide. These factors, combined with gender and age are essential to understand the problem of suicide deeply and find out the loving of people who are vulnerable to suicide attemptFrom some other perspective, comorbid disorders in depression are also associated with suicide attempt. In peerless study investigating comorbid disorder in depression (James et al., 2010), specific comorbid anxie ty, personality, and heart use disorders are found to be strongly associated with suicide attempt. For anxiety disorder, it is panic attack disorder comorbidity in depression to have a threefold increase of suicide attempt when compared to depression without panic disorder. Posttraumatic stress disorder is another comorbidity that associated with suicide attempt. Moreover, personality disorder comorbidity in depression also highlights the risk of suicide attempt. Borderline avoidant, paranoid, and schizoid personality disorders comorbid with depression are all associated with higher rates of suicide attempt. Especially borderline personality disorder, it increased the odds of suicide attempt by seven times.Among the comorbid disorders in depression, tenderness use disorders are worthy for further discussion because it is the most common comorbidity in depression. People turn to drugs to help them feel better when they feel depressed and overwhelmed with life. It is a way of self- medicating which can lead to substance abuse. The chemic balance in the brain of the people bequeath be touch on by substance abuse, intensifying feelings of depression and sadness (Suicide Awareness Voices of Education. n.d.). It will wind up as a vicious circle that substance abuse leads to increasingly severe depression. The depressed mood digests to suicidal thoughts and suicidal attempt. Therefore, substance abuse disorder comorbidity in depression is indeed a high risk factor for suicide attempt. After depressed people resort to substance abuse, their odds of suicide attempt will increase over time because they will become more depressed.Last but not the least, a history of past suicidal ideation and previous suicide attempts are also strong risk factors for suicide attempts. They are one of the most consistently identified risk factors for future suicide attempts in depression (Sokero et al., 2005). A male attempted suicide in the past is more than thirty times more likel y to complete suicide, while a female with a past attempt has about three times the risk (PreventionLane, .n.d.).The combination of depression and other risk factors contribute to suicide attempt. Some sociodemographic factors such as gender and age is significant in the development of depression, which in turn, prompt the onset of suicide attempt. Comorbid disorders in depression also increases the risk of suicide attempt. These factors will be facilitative to identify the people who are at risk of suicide attempt and more importantly, provide an insight of specific measures of suicide prevention and encumbrance for the depressed people in the long term.