Causes of suicideThis essay examines the reasons why a physically healthy person decides to end their life. It does not take into account euthanasia, assisted or forced suicide. Compared to most aspects of psychological health, the scope of research is limited: no "follow-up" can be done if the act is performed, and no ethics committee would approve experiments demonstrating causality. . Suicide has “no single cause or stressor” according to the Lancet 2011. Before elaborating on the causes of suicide, it is important to understand what we mean by cause. The Oxford English Dictionary defines cause as “a person or thing that gives rise to an action, phenomenon, or condition.” This essay will partly examine the methods used by suicidal patients, although this is secondary to what led them to make this decision. The trial will examine the epidemiology of suicide (also with respect to suicide clustering), followed by potential genetic risk factors. Next come psychological factors such as depressive disorders, and finally environmental risk factors such as low socioeconomic status and substance abuse. Another complication in analyzing the causes of suicide is variation between cases. Some will be clearly planned events, with finances and family situations adjusted beforehand, notes written. Others will do it on the spur of the moment, having difficulty establishing whether it was deliberate or accidental. Some will be violent, immediate acts while others will be long-term, low-lethality affairs (depending on the availability of help). More importantly, some people won't succeed – or, chillingly, not at all at first. One of the biggest predictors of successful suicide is a previous suicide attempt...... middle of article ......eViewMarusic,A. (2008) Editorial: Does suicide know the points of the compass?OpenUrlCiteViewMcGirr,Alexander (2007) An examination of DSM-IV depressive symptoms and suicide risk in major depressive disorder: a psychological autopsy studyOpenUrlCiteViewMesoudi (2009) ) The cultural dynamics of Copycat SuicideOpenUrlCiteViewNordentoft, Merete (2011) Absolute risk of suicide after initial hospital contact for a mental disorderOpenUrlCiteViewOrtigo, Westen and Bradley (2009) Personality subtypes of suicidal adultsOpenUrlCiteViewPompili,M. (2009) Substance abuse, temperament, and suicide risk: Evidence from a case-control study.OpenUrlCiteViewRoy, Alec (2011) Resilience mitigates suicide risk associated with childhood traumaOpenUrlCiteViewRoy, Alec (2009) Gene-environment interaction and suicidal behaviorOpenUrlCiteViewZai CC. (2011) Brain-derived