The Suicide - Research Paper Example

Suicide relates to the act of someone ending his life by either hanging or poisoning himself or herself. Depression is primarily the motivating factor for suicide. Depression denotes mood disturbances characterized by feelings of discouragement, sadness, and despair that result from some personal tragedy or loss (Randall et al., 2014). Thus, depression may also refer to mood disorder. The effects of such a disorder on the life of an individual can be profound and disturbing. According to Quiñones, Jurska, Fener, & Miranda (2015), aspects of cognitive, emotional, behavioral, and physiological consequences relate to the symptoms of mood disorder.

Self-destruction is potentially the most tragic consequence of mood disorder. However, it is crucial to point out that there are other causes of suicide besides depression. Suicide is also linked to personality disorder and schizophrenia. The understanding of the state of mind of people who commit suicide such as sheer hopelessness, agitation, irritability, depression, and despair is revealed through physiological autopsies, diaries, clinical interviews, and suicide notes (Van et al., 2008). There is compelling evidence to indicate that the largest number of suicide cases are caused by psychopathy where people commit suicide because they are suffering from addictive disorders and psychiatric illnesses (Han et al., 2014). Those at the greatest risk are those suffering from alcohol, drug abuse, and depression (Anderson, Rees & Sabia, 2014).

Altruistic suicide occurs when people in a society are highly integrated. Durkheim asserts that this type of suicide emanates from the hope that people have for a beautiful afterlife and the hope of reuniting with their loved ones in such cases where wives commit suicide after the death of their husbands or subjects commit suicide following the death of their leader (Durkheim, 1951). Egoistic suicide is prevalent in societies where people become hopeless due to the low extent of social integration. In this case, people fail to see the meaning of their lives and end up committing suicide.  Anomic suicides result from social instability where the values and standards governing the conduct of people are broken down thereby leading to a reduced degree of restriction on people. This gives people more freedom to commit destructive acts including murder and suicides (Durkheim, 1951).