Can Stress Cause Suicidal Symptoms - Essay Example

Can Stress Cause Suicidal Symptoms? Introduction and Thesis Statement In spite of suicide being a leading ground of death among the teens in United States and globally, there is hardly substantial evidence to substantiate why teens or individuals resort to suicide thoughts. However, many psychologists have made efforts to establish and identify some elements leading to suicidal thoughts. One of the most striking feature or cause of suicidal thoughts has emerged to be stress. Stress can be caused by any undesirable factor within an environment of an individual. It is apparent that high level of stress exerted on a person can lead to suicidal thoughts. The authenticity of this statement will be established in the proceeding arguments below. This is with the aim of drawing the attention of different psychologists to identify ways of addressing this subject with the main intention of reducing cases of suicides or suicidal thoughts. Stressful Situations Leading To Suicidal Thoughts According to Carlson and Heth, stress can be defined as an unfavorable condition that can have an influence on an individual’s mind and physical welfare (527). Nevertheless it has been a difficult experience to state precisely what defines stress that is, whether stress is a process, a cause or an effect that connects physical well being and mental status. Humans are complicated creatures to understand at times and therefore in terms of defining stress among humans it might include both visible factors and invisible factors. Stress build-up has been known to give humans suicidal thoughts. This is not a new concept in the modern world, but it began long time ago during the lifetime of Jesus for those who read the bible. When Judah, a disciple of Jesus; committed suicide after betraying his master. What drove him to develop such thoughts? In answering this question, there are various factors that can trigger someone to have suicidal thoughts at any given moment. Theories have emerged in connection to suicide thoughts and occurrences among the humans. The most striking theory is the newer theory concerning suicide by a famous American psychologist Thomas Joiner. In his theory, he has outlined three major factors that can trigger a person to resort to suicide. These include; a mindset of a person that he/she is alone in the surrounding and there is hardly anyone who has concern or cares about them. In fact, this is normally a mistaken perception. Another factor concerns a person’s feeling that he/she is ‘a parasite’ to other people. These types of individuals have no other thoughts, apart from suicidal thoughts. Lastly, the American Psychologist pointed out the factor of not fearing any form of pain or death. Individuals of these kinds of thoughts can do anything to terminate their life. Joiner’s last factor in connection to fearlessness of any form of pain and death has been proven to be the greatest risk to suicidal thoughts. The theory makes arguments that lack of fear to any type of pain and self-injury may be developed with time in an individual, which may describe the solid connection between the numerous self-impairment incidences and suicide. Persons who are frequently susceptible to anguish and others pain may adopt this form of fearlessness with time. Perhaps this might be the explanation behind the high cases of suicides among occupations connected to suicide exposure like doctors, nurses and soldiers. Research has established that young people below the age of 25 years have slightly less risk of suicide or suicide symptoms when under antidepressants. This is most true at the commencement of their treatment. It is argued that suicidal thoughts can emanate from an experience of sexual or physical violence. An individual feels worthless hence lowering his/her self-esteem which might lead to suicidal symptoms. Neglect from parents, guardians, friends or family and being homeless can drive someone to develop suicidal thoughts. Such a person normally feels that he/she is not wanted in the world and the only option available is to terminate own life. This is what most people would refer to as social isolation, which can be very detrimental in an individual’s course of life. Besides, having a close family member who committed or made attempts to commit suicide for one reason or another can trigger a suicidal thought in a person (Conner et al. 367). According to Haring Rosen and Stith, it is believed that social isolation goes along with social betrayal (577). As much as many people might argue some stressful reasons are useless and baseless, it is worth considering the state of mind at that particular time when one feels hopeless and lonely. This is common among the teenagers who are in relationships or have close friends they consider trustworthy to hide secrets or share common things in life. When a boyfriend or girlfriend breaks a long time relationship a teenager will feel he/she is worthless and a nobody to that effect. What is the point of living when one you trust or tend to love most rejects you? This is normally traumatic to most teenagers or even adults which compel their suicidal thoughts. Correspondingly, a person’s sexual orientation such as gays and lesbians can lead to suicidal thoughts especially when the individual faces prejudice from the society. It must be noted that there are certain occupation environments that can trigger suicidal thoughts in a person. A state of being jobless or doing jobs in unskilled setting increases the risk of suicide because the person feels insecure about the existence of the job the following day. Similarly, there those who work in places which provide different ways of dying by suicide. Such occupations include; nursing, working as a pharmacist or doctor and even working in security agencies where one is always in possession of a firearm. Lack of a suitable job increases one’s level of debts. This is because the absence of a stable income doubled with the increasing demand to satisfy the basic needs can instigate the thoughts of committing suicide. There are other stressful factors that might lead to suicidal symptoms which can be discussed in other contexts. According to studies, there is an estimate that 90% of individuals who make attempts to terminate their own life might have different conditions related to mental health. Most of the stressful states described above might push an individual “over the edge” hence result into suicidal symptoms and behavior (Watt and Sharp 241). The level of stress build-up is dependent on the degree of the person’s susceptibility to suicide. In most occasions, it may only involve a petty event like a heated argument with a partner. In other occasion it may involve one traumatizing event such as the death of a loved one or identification of a terminal ailment while in other circumstances, a person may be exposed to a series of factors that may increase the risk of suicidal thoughts. Though various arguments have been presented in support of stress as the major cause of suicidal thoughts, it can also be argued suicide symptoms are not caused by stress. It is believed that if one person commits suicide in a certain setting, this may influence another person to consider suicide as acceptable in the society (Comer 13). In particular among the youth and other teenagers, such incidence may not be caused by stress but rather a person may have suicidal thoughts based on the perception that no one condemns it in the society when it happens. A sense of permissibility develops in such a person which might lead to termination of one’s life. According to Conner et al. (357) there are various signals that may help to spot whether an adolescent is vulnerable to suicidal thoughts. They provide an explanation that those who have earlier on made attempts to end their lives are more probably to become suicidal victims. Furthermore, Carlson and Heth (528) attests that about 10-20% of individuals who made attempts to end their lives in the recent past will eventually end into one successful suicide. Besides, the adolescent who are vulnerable to suicidal thoughts may issue verbal symptoms which might involve direct or indirect sentiments about their deaths. Some of these proclamation include, “I wish I would just die”, “why should I live in this unworthy world?” or “you don’t have to put more worries on me anymore” (Comer 51). Demonstrating such signs as letting go of one’s valuable possessions or abruptly having unreasonable mood-swings can be signs of youth developing suicidal thoughts. As discussed earlier, exposure to stress can lead to certain symptoms of suicides such as sleeplessness, depression, reduced or increased appetite or even low esteem. If kept unmonitored such individuals are likely to develop suicidal thoughts and eventually complete suicidal actions. In conclusion, it is important to consider that the concept of stress cannot be overruled as a causative agent of suicidal thoughts. Suicide cases are increasing on daily basis hence intervention must be put in force to avert further cases of suicide thoughts. Such inventions might include proper guidelines of availing counseling centers online or physically to enable people with such symptoms obtain the necessary help. Works Cited Bartle-Haring, S., Rosen, K. H., and Stith, S. M. Emotional reactivity and psychological Distress, Journal of Adolescent Research, 17(6), (2002)568-585 Carlson, N.R. and Heth, C.D. Psychology the science of behavior, 4th ed. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Pearson Education, Inc., 527 (2007). Print. Comer, R. J., Fundamentals of Abnormal Psychology, 4th Edition, (2005) Worth Publishers, NY Print Conner, K. R., Duberstein, P. R., Conwell, Y., Seidlitz, L., and Caine, E. D. Psychological vulnerability to completed suicide: A review of empirical studies. Suicide and Life-Threatening Behavior, 31(4),(2001) 353-385. Print Watt, T. T., and Sharp, S. F. Race difference in strains associated with suicidal behavior among adolescents. Youth & Society, 34(2),(2002) 232-255 Print. Read More