One person decides to end their life every 40 seconds. Every year nearly 800,000 people take their own life while there are millions whose fail at their attempt to do so. Every suicide is a tragedy that affects families, communities with long-lasting visible effects on the people left behind. The fast pacing world is seeing a huge surge in this tragedy with various sorts of mental illnesses and their taboo lingering around. While suicide is rarely caused by a single factor and is a complex matter, here we point out the major causes of suicide in recent years.
Pandemic and the Lockdown
The pandemic brought the world to a halt. The movement of people was restricted and they were locked inside their house with fear, anxiety, and destructive thoughts which were harder to ignore since they were no longer busy or continuously involved in activities. The increased boredom and free time in our hands forced us to take a deep look at our internal issues or some problems which we ignored before, enhanced it, thus, it leads to increase in suicidal thoughts leading up to suicides. Hence, the pandemic saw a major surge in suicide.
Depression.
Depression is a serious mental disorder that interferes with the normal functioning of the mind, drastically changing how one thinks and acts. It causes various emotional and physical disorders altering brain chemistry, the feeling of self-loathing, worthlessness, overthinking, insomnia, and so on. The lack of will to live life as the stages of depression develops leading to suicidal thoughts, ultimately ending one’s life. Depression is the major cause of suicide especially seen in teens these days.
Abuse of substances and their disorder.
Drug dependence occurs when you need one or more drug substances to function properly. Either it’s dependent on prescribed medicines, drugs, alcohol, or any other things, substance abuse shouldn’t be taken lightly. Both legal and illegal substances change chemicals and how our body and mind function. Thus, the abrupt discontinuation or lack of availability causes withdrawal syndromes, where the mind can even persuade to end one’s life.
Major trauma and losses
Mortal beings are subject to various losses on their life which can cause a major impact on their life. A traumatic childhood and losses result in a severe mental disorder. Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) triggered by physical or sexual abuse, loss, major events, and so on may cause actual changes to the brain. The anger, fear, or other emotions of people with PTSD can put a major strain on them, and they want to end it all eventually may lead to self-harm.
Psychosis
Psychosis is a serious mental disorder characterized by an impaired relationship with reality. People who are experiencing psychosis are detached from reality either hallucinating or delusional. It may lead to bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, and various complex mental issues which may be harder to treat once it accelerates. When they live in an alternate reality and it becomes difficult to interpret day-to-day things, their tendency to self-harm increases leading up to suicides.
