Anxiety Self HelpFind helpful information about anxiety.

Severe depression is an illness that affects the mental, emotional and even the physical well-being of an individual and can result in that individual attempting suicide – defined as the intentional taking of one’s own life. While most people who are depressed will not end up committing suicide, statistics shown there is a higher risk of suicide with depression.

New data has reported that two percent of depressed people who have received treatment for depression in an outpatient scenario might die by suicide. Four percent of those who were treated in an inpatient hospital setting might also die by the same method, and those who have attempted suicide before are also likely to die by suicide later on. Some studies suggest that up to 7 percent of men who suffer from depression will eventually die by suicide as compared with 1 percent of women who suffer from depression.

Sixty percent of the time the most common choice of a suicide method for both men and women is to use a firearm. From a study by the National Institute of Mental Health, about 80 percent of white males commit suicide by shooting themselves, with the next most common method for men being hanging. Women turn to drug overdose or self-poisoning as the second most common method.

However, there are additional risk factors when it comes to a possible suicide besides depression. One of these is traumatic life events, such as the death of a loved one, a financial rut or other adversity which might compel a person to kill him or herself. A history of suicide in the family sometimes results in a “suicide contagion” in which a person is exposed to suicides and suicidal attempts often. This can constitute another risk factor for suicide. Family violence is another trigger; if one is physically or sexually abused, he or she might turn to suicide to end the ordeal. Other risk factors include alcohol or drug abuse and a history of previous suicide attempts.

Depression is a problem that has to be uprooted to keep suicidal thoughts at bay. Needless to say, if a person is deemed suicidal, getting professional treatment as soon as possible is imperative. Usually, those who are thinking of killing themselves do not know they need help. Depression and suicide often go together, but if one works hard to combat depression, thoughts of suicide will be banished.

Depression in all its forms is a serious problem. Bipolar depression, also known as manic depressive disorder, is particularly problematic and leads to numerous difficulties. Click here to learn more about manic depressive illness.

categories: suicide and depression,suicide,depression,mental health