Suicide can be prevented, say two Italian psychiatrists.
Suicide is one
of the top 5 causes of death among 15-25 year-old people worldwide, and,
globally speaking, in the past 100 years mortality by suicide has increased in
both men and women, with a greater increase among the young and the elderly.
The World
Health Organization estimated that about 1 million people die by suicide each
year: over ten years, this picture would correspond to 1 death by suicide every
1000 living people.
Suicide is a
hardly foreseeable event. Nonetheless it can be prevented, and the risk of
dying by suicide has, indeed, sensibly decreased for some categories of people.
The
investigation of the mechanisms involved in the process leading from suicide
ideation to its design and, finally, to the attempt is a critical step to
appreciate both risk and protective factors.
A recent study
carried out by Doctors Antonio Preti and Paola Miotto, two psychiatrists
operating in Italy, found that ancient people already recognized some recurrent
reasons in suicidal behaviour. Negative life events and emotional reactions to
the severing of social ties frequently occur as antecedents of suicide in Greek
mythology. Shame, sense of guilt and grief for the death of a loved one are the
most frequently reported psychological correlates of the act in myth, whereas
defeat, failure or a catastrophic change in living conditions and, among
females, an unfortunate love affair figure as the main antecedents of suicide.
Paying
attention to the social dimension of the subject and to the emotional feelings
raised by stressful life events might allow a better identification of those in
need of specialized care, Drs. Preti and Miotto conclude in their paper.
References:
Antonio
Preti, Paola Miotto
Suicide
in classical mythology: cues for prevention.
Acta
Psychiatrica Scandinavica, 2005; 111: 384-391
Contacts:
Dr Antonio Preti
SchizophreniaProject
e-mail: apreti@tin.it