Causes of Suicide

Suicide is one of the highest reasons of death in America, surpassing motor vehicle deaths. Suicide is the process of killing oneself and there are various reasons for why this action is done. Furthermore, people who say that only depressed people commit suicide are most likely using a bad reasoning such as, Exposure to a Bias Sample. Meaning that since people are often exposed to news about suicide being caused by depression, they might begin to believe that only those who are depressed commit suicide. However, while depression can lead to suicide, it is not the only reason. Only depressed people commit suicide will be proven to be a myth through supporting evidence in the research, analysis of the data in the research, and evaluating the findings in the research.

Suicide can be caused by numerous reasons besides depression such as borderline personality disorder (BPD) and drug abuse. The personality of a person can determine how they will handle stressful situations in life. People who suffer from borderline personality disorder tend to have instability with personal relationships and self-image and are also impulsive in their discussions. BPD is also the only disorder within the DSM-5 for which suicide attempts form part of the diagnostic criteria (Hughes, 2017). Since people who suffer from BPD are impulsive, many tend to turn to self-harm and suicide during stressful events. Drug addiction is another factor that can lead to suicide. Drugs release dopamine to the brain causing a feeling of euphoria. The excessive feeling of happiness can become very addicting, and people begin to take drugs repeatedly to try and reach that emotion again. Drugs such as LSD, DMT, psilocybin, and mescaline are known for their psychedelic hallucinations. These kinds of drugs can affect a person's perception, emotions, and sense of self. This is because molecules in psychedelic drugs stick to neurons and alters the receptors. By doing this the drugs interfere with the neurobiological information-processing mechanisms, hypnotizing one's perception and cognition (Swanson, 2018). Furthermore, people who consume drugs may do insane things such as commit suicide by jumping off a building without being aware of it. Also, drugs itself are very damaging to the brain. For example, people who consume heroin will quickly become addicted and continuously intake the drug to the point where their body cannot uphold anymore, eventually killing themselves. Additionally, data from the previous examples were collected and analyzed to support the opposition of the myth.

The data collected through Blackwell Munksgaard portrays that people who suffer from borderline personality disorder (BPD) have one of the highest rates of suicide or attempted suicide, more so than those who suffer from major depressive disorder (MDD). According to research, suicide attempts tended to be modestly higher in people with BPD with an average of 3.6 compared to the 3.1 in people with MDD. Moreover, 56.8% of males with BPD had attempt suicide opposed to the 36.8% of females. This data suggests that patients with BPD have higher rates of suicide behaviors overall, especially in males (Zalsman, 2006). In another study done by Ghaffari Nejad it was concluded that drug addicts face high risk of suicide. People who are addicted to drugs are 20 times more likely to commit suicide than an average person. Not only that, but they have an 8 to 17 percent suicide rate (Nejad, 2012).

In the overall findings of the research, it was confirmed that borderline personality disorder has around the same suicidal statistical rates as depression (Zalsman, 2006). This is due to the fact that BPD patients have a difficult time making rational discussions during stressful situations, causing them to outburst in impulsive choices (Hughes, 2017). Likewise, people who intake drugs such as LSD affect their ability to perceive things to how they truly are. As a result, this leads them to unconsciously make absurd discussions (Swanson, 2018). Studies also show that addiction is one of the four global crises. Causing drug addicts to have one of the highest suicide rates. In addition, one of the most prominent psychological estimators of suicide, BPD was assigned to males and drug abuse to females (Nejad, 2012).

Stating that only depressed people commit suicide is like saying only sad people cry. However, that is not the case since it is proven that suicide can be caused by personality disorder, drug abuse, and plenty of other factors. Furthermore, through elaborate examples, data, and analysis the myth that suicide is only caused by depression was able to be proven a fallacy.

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