Top 9 reasons why people attempt suicide

The main causes why, statistically, some people decide to take their own lives.

It is difficult to think why a friend, family member or loved one has decided to end his or her life. Whether they succeed in committing suicide or it remains an attempt, this decision is often unanticipated and, when it does happen, it raises many questions.

There are not always clear warning signs, so the reason for a person's decision to commit suicide is often a complete mystery. But one thing should be clear: no one commits suicide just because.

There are several the most frequent reasons why people attempt suicide, and we are going to see them below.and we are going to see them next.

Most frequent reasons why people attempt suicide.

Many people wonder what has caused a loved one to decide to take his or her own life. Many times the suicide attempt remains just that, an attempt.

But unfortunately, in other cases the person ends up achieving what he or she had set out to do, sowing a lot of doubts and questions among family and friends who try to understand why it happened. The fact that they did not see it coming causes them great discomfort, feeling guilty and living, on many occasions, the survivor syndrome.

There are still many myths about suicide, although there are many myths about suicide.Despite the fact that many prevention campaigns have tried to raise awareness of the seriousness of this problem, there are still many myths about suicide. People who try to take their own lives do so because they are suffering a lot. They believe that life is not worth living and that whatever is on the other side, if there is one, is preferable to the hell they are going through. It's not that they don't think about their loved ones, or that they want to hurt them, but that they just can't take it anymore.

The main reasons why people attempt suicide are many. Most of them have in common that the person felt hopeless, that there was no light at the end of the tunnel and that he or she had to put an end to their suffering..... Here are the reasons why a person decides to end his or her life.

1. Depression

Depression is, unfortunately, the disorder that causes more suicide attempts, and also, the one that takes more people. One of the main symptoms of severe depression is a constant feeling of despair, suffering and little hope for the future.. Low self-esteem is often a common feature in deeply depressed people, and they feel that they are worthless, that the world would be better off without them.

But despite the fact that it is the disorder that causes the most suicides it is, ironically, the one most likely to be ameliorated by treatment.. Depression cannot be magically cured, but it can be greatly improved by seeing a psychologist and, if necessary, taking medication. This is why it is so important to insist on seeing this type of professional if you suspect that a family member, friend or acquaintance suffers from this disorder. There are many possibilities to prevent their suicide.

2. Schizophrenia and psychotic break

Many people with schizophrenia or who are suffering from a psychotic disorder end up committing suicide. Auditory hallucinations may be in the form of voices, which may make comments to the sufferer that are not at all positive.. They may encourage the person to harm himself or herself and end his or her life. The reasons given by these voices need not be rational, but the patient sees some kind of sense in them.

Unlike depression, psychosis and schizophrenia are more difficult to mask, which is, in a way, positive since the need for professional help becomes more obvious to a patient with these problems. The negative aspect of these disorders is that they are more tragic, in the sense that they are more difficult to treat and the need for drugs is extreme.

3. Alcohol, drugs and impulsivity

Alcohol and substance use can influence a person's decision to take his or her own life. Suicidal ideation may already occur when sober, but may be mere fantasies or imagining what would happen if he or she were to leave the world. However, when they have become alcoholic or are on a drug high, they become more uninhibited.And within this greater disinhibition is the attempt to carry out these suicidal fantasies.

On the other hand, there is impulsivity as a personality trait.. There are people who, being very upset, all kinds of thoughts go through their heads, including suicidal ones. Either because of the heat of the moment or because they had been thinking about it for a long time, they try to commit suicide and, unfortunately, sometimes succeed.

In case they do not succeed, both for people who have taken drugs and those who are more impulsive, when they are less upset they feel deep remorse for even thinking about it. They begin to empathize with their family and friends, and understand the harm they could have done to them.

4. Request for help

In many cases the suicide attempt is a request for help. The person does not want to die, but she feels that if she does not draw attention to herself in this way, her close circle will not take her seriously.. It must be said that the people who usually resort to this route are usually adolescents, who lack the means and maturity to express their problems, or people who have difficulty to make known all the suffering they are experiencing, but who really want to stop feeling.

Unfortunately, there are many times when these suicide attempts turn into completed suicide, mainly due to the parasuicide's misinformation. It is recurrent in those who attempt suicide as a way of asking for help that they take some kind of pill, having an overdose.. They think that they will attract attention, they will be taken to the emergency room and there they will have their stomach pumped and they will be out of danger. The problem is that taking too many pills can seriously damage the liver and kidneys, with deadly effects.

5. Terminal illness

The decision to die by suicide may be highly rationalized, in the sense that the person really wants to die not because he or she has a mental disorder or feels psychologically unwell, but because he or she is terminally ill. His life is being shortened by an incurable disease, a medical condition that no matter how many drugs he takes, how many operations he has, or what diet he follows, he cannot control. Deciding when to die is the only thing they can control, and they don't want the disease to take it away from them..

It must be said, however, that not all chronic diseases are equally disabling or disruptive to the life of the affected person, but many are correlated with a higher risk of suicide. It has been seen that chronic diseases that we might consider "mild", such as asthma, back pain, high Blood Pressure and migraines can be a cause of suicide almost as much as terminal cancer, brain damage, highly disabling heart problems, late stage HIV/AIDS, Parkinson's disease.

It is this suicidal motivation that has led several countries such as Belgium, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Canada and Colombia to legalize euthanasia. The justification for allowing assisted suicide in some cases is that, given that the person will not be able to enjoy the benefits of assisted suicide. the person will not be able to enjoy the few years he or she has left and will live them with great suffering, it cannot be considered humane to allow assisted suicide.It cannot be considered humane to allow him or her to die in an undignified manner or to decide to take his or her own life in a way that is particularly traumatic for those around him or her.

6. Not wanting to be a burden

This is a common reason for people suffering from a chronic illness, especially when they have to be cared for by family members. As the disease becomes more incapacitating, they become more dependent on their relatives, and sometimes feel that they are a burden and that it would be better to leave the world now.Sometimes they feel that they are a burden and that it would be best to leave the world now.

They want to die because they feel terribly guilty for taking the lives of healthy people who could enjoy their lives if they were not still alive. When they are still mobile, these patients try to end their lives before they can no longer do it for themselves.

7. Fear of failure

In a society where social pressures can be very intense, the fear of failure and of what people will say becomes a very serious psychological problem.

There are many people who consider that not leading a perfect life, according to their own ideals, is synonymous with being worthless.. Whether it is moving away from their idealized life or having a rough patch, many decide to end their life. Some examples of reasons why a person has committed suicide for fear of failure are:

• Being arrested or incarcerated.
• School bullying, humiliation, cyberbullying, workplace bullying.
• Financial problems
• End of a significant love or friendship relationship
• Loss of a job
• Loss of family or friends for disclosing one's sexual orientation
• Loss of social status

8. Traumatic stress

People who have suffered a highly traumatic experience, such as sexual abuse, rape, physical abuse, or trauma from witnessing a war, have an increased risk of suicide, even if many years have passed since the event, are at increased risk for suicide, even if many years have passed since the traumatic event..

Being diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) or having experienced multiple traumatic events further increases the risk of suicide. In addition, depression is often a symptom that appears in these conditions, making the risk even greater. Among the common symptoms of PTSD are feelings of despair and the feeling that no one can help them, which are a real ticking time bomb leading to suicide.

9. Social isolation

Social isolation is a serious problem and can be the cause of suicide. There are many reasons that have led a person to feel lonely: breakup with a partner, divorce, loss of family or friends, social anxiety, mental disorder, illness, retirement, family abandonment... All of these make the person feel less and less motivated to continue living and end up making the decision to end it all..

But social isolation can not only be a cause of suicide. It can also be behind the onset of mental disorders, substance addiction and alcoholism. This is why, especially in elderly people, contact should continue to be maintained with family members who are known to be going through too lonely a time, in order to prevent them from committing suicide attempts and to help them resort to the necessary professional help.

Bibliographical references:

• Hjelmeland, H., Hawton, K., Nordvik, H., Bille-Brahe, U., De Leo, D., Fekete, S., Grad, O., Haring, C., Kerkhof, J. F., Lönnqvist, J., Michel, K., Renberg, E. S., Schmidtke, A., Van Heeringen, K., & Wasserman, D. (2002). Why people engage in parasuicide: a cross-cultural study of intentions. Suicide & life-threatening behavior, 32(4), 380-393. https://doi.org/10.1521/suli.32.4.380.22336.