Life Events Before Suicide in Three Investigations

Abstract

Suicide has been closely linked to psychiatric practice due to the frequency of patients arriving in emergency rooms after an attempt or in a state of crisis with suicidal thoughts. But although these behaviors are present in the diagnostic picture of depression and personality disorders, suicide by itself is not a mental illness, just as homicide is not. But a majority of cases of suicide are associated with a psychiatric comorbidity, integrating the diagnoses of depression, substance abuse and personality disorders. The contribution of social factors to suicide was analyzed by comparing three studies - suicide in adult men, in indigenous groups and in a population with schizophrenia. The three investigations confirm that the etiology of suicide integrates central social components, especially life events and childhood abuse. Although these factors act with others such as genetics, psychiatric status, physical health and physical trauma, we must take into account the characteristics of each group and refrain from transferring them from one to another, or to suicide in general.