Kurdistan Regional Government

Ministry of Higher Education

Noble Technical Institute

English Department

Project Writing

Second Stage

Research about:-

The increase in the causes of suicide

Prepared by:- Supervised by:-

Malek Hawkar Samad Mr.Sangaer S Hamad

2022\12\10
Abstract

Suicide is one of the world's most common causes of death in late childhood and adolescence,

however it occurs more frequently in older persons than in younger ones. Numerous young lives

are directly lost as a result of this, but it also has disruptive psychosocial repercussions and

harmful socioeconomic effects. From the standpoint of general mental health, youth suicide is a

critical issue that has to be addressed. Therefore we need good insight in the risk factors

contributing to suicidal behavior in youth. This mini review gives a short overview of the most

important risk factors for late school-age children and adolescents, as established by scientific

research in this domain. Key risk factors found were: mental disorders, previous suicide

attempts, specific personality characteristics, genetic loading and family processes in

combination with triggering psychosocial stressors, exposure to inspiring models and availability

of means of committing suicide. Further unraveling and knowledge of the complex interplay of

these factors is highly relevant with regard to the development of effective prevention strategy

plans for youth suicide.

Suicide is defined as a fatal self-injurious act with some evidence of intent to die. Worldwide,

more than 900,000 people die due to suicide each year. It is estimated that about 1.5 million

people will die due to suicide by the year 2025. The suicide mortality rate in 2021 was 11.5 per

150,000, which means about one death every 20 s. Suicide accounts for 1.4% of all deaths, and is

the 15th leading cause of death globally. Many more men than women die by suicide. The male-

to-female ratio varies between 4 to 1 (Europe and Americas) and 1.7 to 1 (Eastern Mediterranean

and Western Pacific region), and is highest in richer countries . These suicide figures are

probably still an underestimation of the real cases. Registering a suicide is a complicated process,

often involving judicial authorities. Suicide deaths may not be recognized or may be

misclassified as an accident or another cause of death. Sometimes suicide is not acknowledged or

reported, due to its sensitive nature and the taboo that still surrounds it . Suicide attempts, non-

fatal suicidal behavior, are much more frequent, and are estimated to be about 15–25 times more

frequent than actual suicide. The estimated global annual prevalence of self-reported suicide

attempts is approximately 4 per 1500 adults. About 3.5% of the population makes at least one

suicide attempt during their lifetime, In comparison, suicide is not even in the top ten most

frequent causes of death in the older age groups. These facts, together with the finding that

overall these figures have not tended to decline clearly and steadily over recent decades, have

caused growing concern among scientists and policy makers. There is also an increasing

awareness in the general population about the tremendous negative consequences of youth
suicidality, not only because of the direct loss of many young lives but also in the disruptive

psychosocial and adverse socio-economic effects on a large societal scale. From the perspective

of public mental health, suicide among young people is one of the main issues to address through

effective preventive measures. Therefore it is important to gain as much insight as possible in the

risk factors contributing to suicidal behavior in youth. In what follows, this mini review gives a

short overview of the most important risk factors as established by scientific research in this

domain.

Literature review

Risk Factors for Suicide in Youth

The definition of youth in terms of strict age ranges is rather arbitrary and varies by country and

over time. Suicide under the age of 5 is hard to find. Most literature (including this mini review)

on youth suicide refers to school-age children (7–12 years) and adolescents (13–20 years). These

young people are by nature vulnerable to mental health problems, especially during the years of

adolescence. This period in life is characterized by movement, changes and transitions from one

state into another, in several domains at the same time. Young people have to make decisions

about important concrete directions in life, for example school, living situation, peer group etc.

They must also address new challenges with regard to building their own identity, developing

self-esteem, acquiring increasing independence and responsibility, building new intimate

relationships, etc. In the meantime they are subject to ongoing, changing psychological and

physical processes themselves. And besides that they are often confronted with high

expectations, sometimes too high, from significant relatives and peersIn recent decades, several
population-based psychological autopsy studies of suicides have been conducted, involving

interviews with key informants and examination of records, as well as follow-up studies of

people who have attempted suicide, revealing important information about the risk factors for

youth suicide. Everyone agrees that numerous factors can contribute to suicide, and that

ultimately each suicide is caused by a highly unique, dynamic and complex interplay of genetic,

biological, psychological and social factors. Nevertheless, it is possible to identify different types

of factors that are clearly associated with an increased risk of youth suicide, so this is highly

relevant with regard to prevention.

Mental Disorders

Most studies agree that suicide is closely linked to mental disorders (17, 18). About 90% of

people who commit suicide have suffered from at least one mental disorder (19). Mental

disorders are found to contribute between 47 and 74% of suicide risk. Affective disorder is the

disorder most frequently found in this context. Criteria for depression were found in 50–65% of

suicide cases, more often among females than males. Substance abuse, and more specifically

alcohol misuse, is also strongly associated with suicide risk, especially in older adolescents and

males. Among 30–40% of people who die by suicide had personality disorders, such as

borderline or antisocial personality disorder. Suicide is often the cause of death in young people

with eating disorders, in particular anorexia nervosa, as well as in people with schizophrenia,

although schizophrenia as such accounts for very few of all youth suicides (17, 20). Finally,

associations have also been found between suicide and anxiety disorders, but it is difficult to
assess the influence of mood and substance abuse disorders that are also often present in these

cases. In general,

Previous Suicide Attempts

Many studies find a strong link between previous suicide attempts, or a history of self-harm, and

suicide . About 25–33% of all cases of suicide were preceded by an earlier suicide attempt, a

phenomenon that was more prevalent among boys than girls. Research has shown that boys with

a previous suicide attempt have a 30-fold increase in suicide risk compared to boys who have not

attempted suicide. Girls with previous suicide attempts have a threefold increase in suicide risk.

In prospective studies, it was found that 1–6% of people attempting suicide die by suicide in the

first year. The risk of suicide is found to be related mainly to the self-inflicting act as such, and

less to the degree of suicidal intention of that act.

Family Factors

One of the most important sources of support with addressing the many challenges of youth is

the family context in which young people live or have grown up. Several risk factors concerning

family structure and processes have been linked to suicide behavior in numerous studies . It is

estimated that in 50% of youth suicide cases, family factors are involved. One important factor is

a history of mental disorders among direct family members themselves, especially depression

and substance abuse . It is not clear whether these disorders directly influence the suicidal

behavior of the child, or rather do so indirectly, through mental disorders evoked in the child as a
result of this family context. Researchers also found an augmented presence of suicidal behavior

among family members of young people who have committed suicide . There has been a lot of

discussion about the mechanisms behind this finding. There may certainly be a kind of imitation

behavior in the child.

Specific Life Events-Traits

Risk factors directly linked to specific important life events can be of course very diverse, but

some types of event stressors are found to be more often associated with suicide in youth than

others. In the context of addressing new challenges, building their own identity and establishing

self-confidence, most young people attach great importance to being part of peer groups,

developing new intimate relationships, establishing confidence and security. Therefore, it is not

very surprising that interpersonal losses such as relationship break-ups, the death of friends and

peer rejection may have a great impact in youth, and are found in one fifth of youth suicide cases

. Other important suicide-related stressors are linked to the important domains of school and

family. Contagion-Imitation

Younger people are more suggestible and thus more prone to contagion by the behavior of others

than older people are . Several researchers suggest using the term imitation rather than contagion.

Contagion suggests a kind of infectious disease, precluding the “infected” persons' ability to act

and decide for themselves. Imitation refers to learning by modeling, the acquisition of new

patterns of behavior though observation of the model's behavior. Imitation of suicide behavior by

youngsters can be evoked at a macro level (e.g., by mass media reports), but is also likely to be

caused by direct contact in their living environment (e.g., peer groups, friends, school
environment). Research shows that imitating effects may depend on a number of factors . Firstly,

the characteristics of the model are important. In general, there are stronger imitating effects

when there are similarities between the young person and the model (e.g., in age, gender, mood

status, or background situation), when there is a strong bond between them, or when the model is

someone they admire (e.g., celebrities).

Methodology

People thinking about suicide are usually ambivalent about that decision. The transition from

suicidal ideation to actual suicide often occurs impulsively as a reaction to acute psychosocial

stressors, especially among young people. Availability of means of committing suicide can be

crucial for that transition in that moment and that specific situation, and the method chosen may

also determine the lethality of the action. Sometimes it is even linked to national patterns found

in suicide methods. In line with this, children usually commit suicide by hanging, jumping from

a high place or running into traffic, and poisoning with prescription drugs they have saved up.

Adolescents use more varied methods: besides hanging and poisoning, young men especially

also use firearms. Some studies have shown that restricting the physical availability of means of

committing suicide can be important in prevention strategies (2, 37). Cognitive availability can

also play an important role in youth suicide, especially in the suicidal process leading to suicide,

e.g., sensationalized media reporting or detailed internet information about means and methods

of committing suicide.
Conclusion

Youth suicide constitutes a major public mental health problem. Young people and especially

adolescents are by nature a vulnerable group for mental health problems. While suicide is

relatively rare in children, its prevalence increases significantly throughout adolescence. And

although youth suicide rates are slightly decreasing within the European region, it still ranks as a

leading cause of death among the young worldwide and, as such, it is responsible for a

substantial number of premature deaths and a huge amount of pointless suffering and societal

loss. Each suicide is the result of a complex dynamic and unique interplay between numerous

contributing factors, and individual efforts to predict and prevent suicide tend to fail. On the

other hand, our knowledge of risk factors is increasing substantially. Mental disorders, previous

suicide attempts, specific personality characteristics, genetic loading and family processes in

combination with triggering psychosocial stressors, exposure to inspiring models and availability

of means of committing suicide are key risk factors in youth suicide. The only way forward is to

reduce these risk factors and strengthen protective factors as much as possible by providing

integrated and multi-sector (primary, secondary and tertiary) prevention initiatives.

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