Suicide
Image 1: This is a picture depicting the suicide statistics and costs for the United States in the year 2015 (3)
According to the #EndBullying initiative the annual suicide rate for the United States was 13.26% per 100,000 individuals and there was an average of 121 suicides per day in the year 2015 (3). What I found to be interesting was that adults between 45 and 64 years of age had the highest suicided rate (19.6), people over the age of 85 had the second highest rate at 19.4, and young adults between ages 15-24 had the lowest rate at 12.5 (3). In terms of ethnicity, the highest U.S. suicide rate was held by American Indians and Alaska Natives whites being a close second. According to the CDC, firearms was the most common method of suicide, however the CDC also received data from hospitals on “non-fatal injuries from self-harm” and confirmed that 494,169 people were sent to hospitals because of attempted suicide (3).
Definition of the Term and History:
Throughout my academic years, I have always understood suicide to be the taking of one’s own life, but through my research on the topic I now understand that it is much more intricate than that. In fact, it is so intricate that leading research finds it difficult to define exactly what suicide is. Leading researchers at the University of British Columbia state that suicide is defined as “death caused by self-directed injurious behavior with an intent to die as a result of the behavior” (4). According to sociologist Emile Durkheim, the term “suicide is applied to all cases of death resulting directly or indirectly from a positive or negative act of the victim himself, which he knows will produce this result” (1). Every definition of suicide is more or less the same, but as one can see there is no official definition for the concept of suicide and researchers have been dealing with this problem for the past 50 years (4). Suicidology involves looking at variables, characteristics, and “behaviors” of suicide to figure out the origin of it.
Perspectives and Controversy:
The two main controversies surrounding suicide is the research behind the concept and how physicians go about treating the disease. According to researchers as the University of British Columbia, there are four main challenges when it comes to researching suicide. One of which is sated in the previous paragraph and that is finding an “agreed upon” term for suicide (5). The second problem is the way in which researchers mediate and measure suicidality. The versatility of the assessments allows for different data to be recorded, but it also leads to “confusion in the literature” (5). “The diverse measurement approaches make it difficult to compare findings and integrate knowledge across studies” (5). The third is whether or not to view suicide as a state or as a trait. According to researchers, individuals who attempt suicide only do so once, so it may be more reasonable for researchers to consider suicidality a state (5). However, previous suicide attempts can predict future ones and most victims experience “persistent ideation”, so there is cause to view suicidality as a trait. Additionally, this creates different perspectives, thus creating different “research designs and questions” (5). Unfortunately, this can cause knowledge about suicide to suffer. Finally, the “stigma” surrounding the concept of suicide can influence who frequently it is reported. “For example, individuals in countries strongly influenced by religions that prohibit suicide may underreport suicide attempts and deaths” (5). Cultural differences about the concept of suicide also affect how it is reported (5). The controversies surrounding the physicians spurs from the idea that the antidepressants administered to patients provide benefits for some and not for others. Also, the problems that are related to the prescriptions come from the fact that the patients are poorly monitored by the physician (6).
Connection to MHS:
Image 2: This image depicts the suicide rate for all ethnicities with a focus on ages 18-24. The numbers clearly show that the Native American population suffers more than other ethnic groups (2).
Suicide is a major health problem for Native Americans and leading research shows that they experience the highest rate of suicide amongst all other ethnic groups in the United States (7). “Socioeconomic characteristics, barriers to mental health services and acculturation play a role in Native American communities” (7). Rates of suicide among the Native American population range from 15% to 31% and their suicidal behavior is 72% higher than the general United States population (7). Why is that? A number of scientific studies conducted claim that the reason for this suicidal behavior was a result of psychological suffering caused by decades of oppression (7). However, “the relationship between spirituality and suicidal behavior among American Indians reflects a larger, unresolved debate about the relation between religion and subjunctive well-being” (7).There are two opposing views among researchers when it comes to the relationship between religion and mental health: one is that “religious commitments are associated with greater happiness, greater life satisfaction, and superior ability to cope with trauma”, but the second view is that “religious commitments may be a source of distress” (7). According to sociologist E.V. Stonequist’s “marginal man” thesis, Native Americans who attempt to maintain or “live out” their tribal values can encounter extreme strain and conflicts, thus causing them to look for a way out (7).
Works: Cited
- 1
- Almendrala, Anna. “Native American Youth Suicide Rates Are At Crisis Levels.” The Huffington Post, TheHuffingtonPost.com, 20 Dec. 2016, huffingtonpost.com/entry/native-american.
- “Suicide Statistics.” END BULLYING CHALLENGE, 19 May 2017, endbullyingchallenge.com/suicide-statistics/.
- Cholbi, Michael. “Suicide.” Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Stanford University, 21 July 2017, plato.stanford.edu/entries/suicide/.
- Klonsky, David. Suicide, Suicide Attempts, and Suicidal Ideation. University of British Colombia , 11 Jan. 2016,www2.psych.ubc.ca/~klonsky/
- Pomerantz, Jay. “Controversy of Suicide Risk.” Medscape , Medscape, medscape.com
- “Spirituality and Attempted Suicide among American Indians.” Social Science & Medicine, Pergamon, 9 June 2002, www.sciencedirect.com/science