Actually, there are some sources credible, and some are not. I would like to share my thoughts with you what sources are worth to read whereas some are not! Read that, not that!
I think we’d better avoid some sources which could bias our view towards this myth. For example, the 3 sources I am going to mention below.
1. The article which was written by Bradvik and Berglund. Actually, it was a good research to give the audience the history about depression and suicidal actions. However, I think this article was focused on the depression too much. Since it just mentioned that the depression caused people to commit suicide, it did not balance the facts. Then, people put more attention on the relationship between depression and suicide, and this myth will be reinforced in readers’ mind by just reading the “relationship”. Although references and evidences were included in this research, it is quite subjective by emphasizing the correlation between suicide and depression only which can make people think “Depression causes Suicide”.
Bradvik L., Berglund M. (2002). Aspects of the suicidal career in severe depression: A comparison between attempts in suicides and control, Archives of Suicide Research: 6:339-349
http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=16&hid=7&sid=cad5ff4e-cf1a-42ac-9248-df597f82ce9a%40sessionmgr12
2. This is a source with data to demonstrate what the authors said. However, this article was not really convincing, nor helping people to buster the myth. So, I would not recommend this source. This paper stated people commit suicide because they were low self-evaluated which meant they got depression. Moreover, it just emphasized the correlation between suicide and depression, this is the reason they kept mentioning how people be saddened by the social networking. The authors did that research with bias – depression causes suicide. After reading this article, I didn’t learn anything. This article was like discussing more about on gender differences and the correlation which is not really related to the real factors of depression and suicide.
Au, A. C. Y., Lau S., Lee M. T. Y. (2009). Suicide Ideation And Depression: The Moderation Effects of Family Cohesion And Social Self-Concept, ADOLESCENCE, Vol. 44. No. 176http://web.ebscohost.com.proxy.seattleu.edu/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=6&hid=109&sid=95c734bd-80ef-48a7-ac6d-3bb36c6cc900%40sessionmgr14
3. I do not recommend this source because this article was biased. The topic revealed what the authors want to discuss in the papers. They stressed only on depression and suicide which were the main points of this article. Although it mentioned the numbers to prove their opinions, they ignore other factors such as environmental factors or other mental disorders. If you want to study the causation about depression and suicide, this is a good article. However, it is not a good source for people who want to shatter this myth. This is an one-sided article.
Hovanesian S., Isakov I., Cervellione K. L. (2009) Defense Mechanisms and Suicide Risk in Major Depression, Archives of Suicide Research, 13:74–86
http://web.ebscohost.com.proxy.seattleu.edu/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=16&hid=112&sid=95c734bd-80ef-48a7-ac6d-3bb36c6cc900%40sessionmgr14
More scientific way, data based:
This is one of the best sources I found. It concluded clear content to express if depression is only reason caused people commit suicide. It also did the research with a large nation sample which can be trustful. Moreover, this article not only tested the psychological disorder such as depression, anxiety disorders, but they also did some tests on the medications for those patients with mental disorder. This research could tell people about suicide in another way and demonstrate not only depressed people kill themselves, but many other factors.
Pfeiffer P. N.; Ganoczy D., Ilgen M., Zivin K., Valenstein M., (2009). Comorbid anxiety as a suicide risk factor among depressed veterans, DEPRESSION AND ANXIETY 26:752–757
http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=2&hid=7&sid=dbe2d08e-ae98-4fec-8f9e-6694b87a2316%40sessionmgr12
This article “Suicidal Behavior in Adolescents with First-Episode Psychosis” is objective. It also offered the statistical information for the reader to know more about the situation of the suicidal behavior happened in adolescence. Although there is lots of data based information. However, I wonder how long the research took. If they did the research shortly, it should not be counted as powerful sources. Since the world changes consistently, it need more time to figure out the patterns.
Falcone T., Mishra L., Carlton E., Lee C., Butler R. S., Janigro D., Simon B., Franco K. (2010). Suicidal Behavior in Adolescents with First-Episode Psychosis, Clinical Schizophrenia & Related Psychoses
http://www.samaritans.org/pdf/Samaritans-DepressionAndSuicide.pdf
Expressing in broad way:
This article I found on PsychArticles which was written by Skarbø, Rosenvinge and Holte. I think this article was really well-organized. Moreover, it discussed different parts from the perspectives of Psychiatry more objectively. This research was done based on the previous various reports which meant they already had some basic information about the topic. Moreover, it tested not only one subject, but few more different subjects in order to compare to each one and talked about how they related to suicidal actions.
Tove S., Rosenvinge J. H. Arne H. (2006). Alcohol problems, mental disorder and mental health among suicide attempters 5-9 years after treatment by child and adolescent outpatient psychiatry, Nord J Psychiatry , Vol. 60 N0. 5
http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=2&hid=7&sid=703dcb8a-0fa0-4da2-91fd-5d5c34441b58%40sessionmgr11
This was an article written by Werth, Jr. It is worth to read because this article has covered many areas. As we can see, the researchers did the study really carefully and objectively. He was not only discussing about the psychological issues which are depression etc, but he also talked about the epidemiological issues such as stress from the work and responsibilities of the therapists. Moreover, this source was done in recent years which meant it could catch up the rhythm of today society. Since this article discussed different aspects of suicide actions, we can see widely how other action that might motivate people to choose to commit suicide.
Werth, J. L. Jr. (2004). The Relationships among Clinical Depression, Suicide, and Other Actions that may Hasten Death, Behavioral Sciences and the Law, vol. 22: 627–649
http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=2&hid=7&sid=d82e0f57-4a0d-4346-9b05-07eac9ba93da%40sessionmgr14
Longitudinal Research ( More convincing):
This research was done by MacDonald, Taylor and Clarke. 9 years was kind of long period which could figure out if anything went wrong in order to make the results to be consistent. Moreover, this research was reliable because the researchers have cited so many sources to prove their points which are really powerful evidence to convince the audience. And they told the audience to declare the word of “suicide”. Are the thoughts of suicide also counted as the group of committing suicide as well? The research can help audience to make clear of suicide. It also aided us to balance our thoughts; for example, it told the audience to think of other reasons such as drug abuse which can cause people to commit suicide too. It is also included in the survey were items assessing stimulant, analgesic, inhalant, and heroin dependence
MacDonald R., Taylor J., Clarke D. (2009). The relationship between early suicide behaviors and mental health: Results from a nine-year panel study” Journal of AdolescenceVolume 32, Issue 5, Pages 1159-1172
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6WH0-4VT17S0-1&_user=2324092&_coverDate=10%2F31%2F2009&_rdoc=1&_fmt=high&_orig=search&_sort=d&_docanchor=
&view=c&_acct=C000056914&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=
2324092&md5=01d88ea9412432b19e688696b0fe00d5
Tuesday, June 8, 2010
Suicide in teenagers is more common.
As the previous posts I said, suicide become more and more common in society. I agree depressed people have tendency to commit suicide, yet not all. For me, I think people link depression and suicide together because suicidal people have given an impression to us – sadness, frustration. This is a reason that people think depression causes suicide.
Have you heard about teenagers commit suicide just because they lost in online game or their stuffs (in online game) were stolen? No? This is common in my country. There are some teenagers killing themselves because of this reason every single year. It is really sad, undoubtedly. Suicidal rate has been increasing, and people who commit suicide are much younger than before. I think we can attribute to today’s education. Nowadays, kids and teenagers are over protected. That is the reason they can’t confront adversities and try to kill themselves to avoid facing those circumstances. In fact, if we were raised to solve problems and prepare everything only by ourselves, we must be much tougher and face the adversities in positive ways.
The generation of my parents, for example, they need to take care of themselves since they were kids because resources were lack in the past. They needed to find the way out to survive in society on their own, without any help from people. I asked them if there were people commit suicide in the past. And they shook their heads and said, “Today’s teenagers are more fragile than us, and it’s easy to knock them down. That's why we do not protect you so much.”
Have you heard about teenagers commit suicide just because they lost in online game or their stuffs (in online game) were stolen? No? This is common in my country. There are some teenagers killing themselves because of this reason every single year. It is really sad, undoubtedly. Suicidal rate has been increasing, and people who commit suicide are much younger than before. I think we can attribute to today’s education. Nowadays, kids and teenagers are over protected. That is the reason they can’t confront adversities and try to kill themselves to avoid facing those circumstances. In fact, if we were raised to solve problems and prepare everything only by ourselves, we must be much tougher and face the adversities in positive ways.
The generation of my parents, for example, they need to take care of themselves since they were kids because resources were lack in the past. They needed to find the way out to survive in society on their own, without any help from people. I asked them if there were people commit suicide in the past. And they shook their heads and said, “Today’s teenagers are more fragile than us, and it’s easy to knock them down. That's why we do not protect you so much.”
Why this myth matters to me?
I think suicide is not a strange word to me anymore. The more I grew up, the more I heard about suicide. Since there are lots of cases about suicide, this urges me to know more about this. Suicide not only happen in the U.S., but my country, Hong Kong, also has high rate of suicide.
This is true that depressed people need to be cared, but so do other people with other illnesses. Due to this myth, people overlook the condition of people who have other problems beyond depression. Consequently, the rate of suicide will keep increasing.
Although this blog is not famous, I can tell people the truth after doing the researches. This is the point why I want to take this myth.
After this, I hope to find out the reasons why people commit suicide and why people link depression and suicide together. After the research, I found out that people commit suicide not really because they are depressed. It is because they want to avoid the misfortunate. They just want to flee from the complicated society. Moreover, I found that many of suicidal people died without comfort from friends or relatives. They seemed to be alone before making the decisions no matter they were diagnosed with or without illnesses. Therefore, consistent care is needed for everyone to avoid such tragedy.
Additionally, I took this myth because I want the whole world to concern different types of illnesses. And I also want to share with them not only depressed people committing suicide. Suicide may happen to everyone, not only depression.
This is true that depressed people need to be cared, but so do other people with other illnesses. Due to this myth, people overlook the condition of people who have other problems beyond depression. Consequently, the rate of suicide will keep increasing.
Although this blog is not famous, I can tell people the truth after doing the researches. This is the point why I want to take this myth.
After this, I hope to find out the reasons why people commit suicide and why people link depression and suicide together. After the research, I found out that people commit suicide not really because they are depressed. It is because they want to avoid the misfortunate. They just want to flee from the complicated society. Moreover, I found that many of suicidal people died without comfort from friends or relatives. They seemed to be alone before making the decisions no matter they were diagnosed with or without illnesses. Therefore, consistent care is needed for everyone to avoid such tragedy.
Additionally, I took this myth because I want the whole world to concern different types of illnesses. And I also want to share with them not only depressed people committing suicide. Suicide may happen to everyone, not only depression.
Vulnerable Population
There are so many people believe such a myth.
I think people who have friends or relative died with depression believe that only deeply depressed people commit suicide.
Here is an example,
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wI2n5npIHyg
This is a video talking about a man’s wife died of depression. Besides, he tried to spread this message through youtube or other means in order to tell people to concern more about the depressed people. It is very clear that people believe there is a important relationship and causation between suicide and depression.
Media is one of them. We can see the association between depression and suicide everywhere such as pictures, news even magazine. Although they just try to tell people paying more attention on depressed people, there is strong belief that the depression and suicide are linked together in such media.
The therapists of depression are not an exception. Based on the researches, there are many of the therapists believing this myth even though they are knowledgeable in such area. Most of their patients are depression. Therefore, they are easily to see some of their patients committing suicide. It is so called "seeing what they expect to see".Since they are specialized with depression, they may be biased by just being in touch with depressed people.
I think people who have friends or relative died with depression believe that only deeply depressed people commit suicide.
Here is an example,
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wI2n5npIHyg
This is a video talking about a man’s wife died of depression. Besides, he tried to spread this message through youtube or other means in order to tell people to concern more about the depressed people. It is very clear that people believe there is a important relationship and causation between suicide and depression.
Media is one of them. We can see the association between depression and suicide everywhere such as pictures, news even magazine. Although they just try to tell people paying more attention on depressed people, there is strong belief that the depression and suicide are linked together in such media.
The therapists of depression are not an exception. Based on the researches, there are many of the therapists believing this myth even though they are knowledgeable in such area. Most of their patients are depression. Therefore, they are easily to see some of their patients committing suicide. It is so called "seeing what they expect to see".Since they are specialized with depression, they may be biased by just being in touch with depressed people.
Most important misunderstanding
I think most important misunderstanding is on 3 words in this myth – ONLY, DEPRESSED and SUICIDE. Without looking at whole sentence, we still could get what it means by just looking at those 3 words. This is what I see by those 3 words, ONLY DEPRESSED PEOPLE SUICIDE. I think it is easy to get people towards this myth because of the assertive words which could lead people assume people who commit suicide are all deeply depressed people.
By thinking this myth, it has big impact to the society. Since this myth has been widely spread, people may concern more on the people who are diagnosed with depression. However, they neglect other people such as drug abusers and alcoholisms who also need care. When people have confirmation bias, they just keep their eyes on those people with depression. Besides, they hardly see there are other people commit suicide because of other reasons by confirmation bias. Is that a good sign to hold such affirmative belief? Definitely not.
By thinking this myth, it has big impact to the society. Since this myth has been widely spread, people may concern more on the people who are diagnosed with depression. However, they neglect other people such as drug abusers and alcoholisms who also need care. When people have confirmation bias, they just keep their eyes on those people with depression. Besides, they hardly see there are other people commit suicide because of other reasons by confirmation bias. Is that a good sign to hold such affirmative belief? Definitely not.
Better way to think about it
It is true that depressed people are highly risky to commit suicide. However, the myth, “Only deeply depressed people commit suicide”, is not really correct. We actually could say in the better way.
First of all, people believe depressed people commit suicide, but NOT ONLY. This is too affirmative and lead people to the wrong side. There are so many people died in suicide not because of the depression, but schizophrenia, social phobia, alcoholism and drug abuse etc. In some researches, they stated that some suicidal people appear to be happies than they’ve been years because they decided to “resolve” all their problem by killing themselves. Furthermore, it also mentioned deeply depressed people do not actually have energy to commit suicide. Therefore, we should not say “Only depressed people commit suicide”.
Based on some research, only the range of 13 percent to 41 percent of people who commit suicide meet diagnostic criteria of major depression. Can that be said as only deeply depressed people commit suicide? I don’t think so.
For me, I think there are some better ways to think about it. We could say people who are with mental disorder have higher chance to commit suicide. Since people with mental illnesses could not control their thoughts and emotions easily, they are easy to make the wrong decisions – suicide. We’d better focus on what kind of people have tendency to suicide, not the word “ONLY” and “DEEPLY”.
First of all, people believe depressed people commit suicide, but NOT ONLY. This is too affirmative and lead people to the wrong side. There are so many people died in suicide not because of the depression, but schizophrenia, social phobia, alcoholism and drug abuse etc. In some researches, they stated that some suicidal people appear to be happies than they’ve been years because they decided to “resolve” all their problem by killing themselves. Furthermore, it also mentioned deeply depressed people do not actually have energy to commit suicide. Therefore, we should not say “Only depressed people commit suicide”.
Based on some research, only the range of 13 percent to 41 percent of people who commit suicide meet diagnostic criteria of major depression. Can that be said as only deeply depressed people commit suicide? I don’t think so.
For me, I think there are some better ways to think about it. We could say people who are with mental disorder have higher chance to commit suicide. Since people with mental illnesses could not control their thoughts and emotions easily, they are easy to make the wrong decisions – suicide. We’d better focus on what kind of people have tendency to suicide, not the word “ONLY” and “DEEPLY”.
Example in popular cultures
http://www.flickr.com/photos/26338266@N05/2511216458/sizes/o/
This is an example in popular culture. This is a picture talking about teens suicide.
What do I see in the image:
We can obviously see the “Teen Suicide” in the picture. And we can see a girl sitting at the corner/ dead end, and hold her knees. Apparently, she is in pain. That girl is sad. Besides, the background is white and black.
What is the picture is going to imply:
Actually, we can see there are some interpretations about this photo; besides, it tries to bring the message out.
Apparently, this picture is talking about suicide and be linked to depression. Because of the background color – black and white and the girl’s facial expression, we can definitely see that the girl has depression.
I think we can see the myth easily through this picture. A girl with depression is highly risky to commit suicide.
Here is one more picture which can obviously tell the example in popular culture.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/arthuserea/2233511835/sizes/m/
This is like a warning. It tries to tell people being aware of their friends who have such symptoms mentioned below. Those signs are also symptoms of depression. Therefore, this is popular that people put depression and suicide together.
This is an example in popular culture. This is a picture talking about teens suicide.
What do I see in the image:
We can obviously see the “Teen Suicide” in the picture. And we can see a girl sitting at the corner/ dead end, and hold her knees. Apparently, she is in pain. That girl is sad. Besides, the background is white and black.
What is the picture is going to imply:
Actually, we can see there are some interpretations about this photo; besides, it tries to bring the message out.
Apparently, this picture is talking about suicide and be linked to depression. Because of the background color – black and white and the girl’s facial expression, we can definitely see that the girl has depression.
I think we can see the myth easily through this picture. A girl with depression is highly risky to commit suicide.
Here is one more picture which can obviously tell the example in popular culture.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/arthuserea/2233511835/sizes/m/
This is like a warning. It tries to tell people being aware of their friends who have such symptoms mentioned below. Those signs are also symptoms of depression. Therefore, this is popular that people put depression and suicide together.
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