<p>The truth is that <em>very few people</em> who haven't seriously contemplated suicide, or who haven't dealt extensively with many people who have, really understand it. They will, like you, not figure it out, thinking there are so many other options available to them. It is even more puzzling when wealthy people, who have so many more options than most, do so, while hungry homeless people hang on.</p>

<p>If you are serious about the answer, I recommend reading <a href="http://hyperboleandahalf.blogspot.com/2013/05/depression-part-two.html">this blog post</a> for a quick and accurate cartoon version of one person's deep depression.</p>

<p>In the US (where I live), suicide is the third leading cause of death for adolescents 15 to 19 years old.<sup>[1]</sup> From 1999 to 2010, the age-adjusted suicide rate for adults aged 35–64 years in the United States increased significantly by 28.4%, from 13.7 to 17.6 per 100,000 population.<sup>[2]</sup> There are ~35,000 known suicides/year (and likely more undiscovered.)</p>

<p>J.John Mann MD, a leading researcher in the neurobiology of suicide (trained in Psychiatry and Internal Medicine with a Doctorate in Neurochemistry) employs functional brain imaging, neurochemistry and molecular genetics to probe the causes of mental illness and suicide. A number of abstracts of his papers are available online. His research points to problems in the ventromedial prefrontal cortex of the brain.<sup>[3][4]</sup> A recent paper<sup>[5]</sup> summarizes the neurobiological, environmental, genetic and familial influences.</p>

<p>Perhaps most relevant to your question is that there seem to be prerequisites to suicide which you may never have experienced, which must include all of the following:</p>

<blockquote>
  <ul>
  <li>psychological pain (a sense of being a burden to others)</li>
  <li>a profound sense of loneliness, alienation and isolation</li>
  <li>a pervasive sense of pessimism/hopelessness</li>
  <li>a sense of fearlessness (or impulsivity and aggression)</li>
  </ul>
</blockquote>

<p>If one is afraid of death, one will not likely commit suicide.<sup>[6]</sup></p>

<p><sub>[1] <a href="http://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/pub/youth_suicide.html">CDC.gov</a></sub><br>
<sub>[2] <a href="http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm6217a1.htm">Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report</a></sub><br>
<sub>[3] <a href="http://www.nature.com/nrn/journal/v4/n10/full/nrn1220.html">Neurobiology of suicidal behaviour</a></sub><br>
<sub>[4] <a href="http://www.columbia.edu/itc/hs/medical/psychmed/1_2004/neuro_suicide.pdf">The Neurobiology of Suicide</a></sub><br>
<sub>[5] <a href="https://www.omh.ny.gov/omhweb/savinglives/Volume2/neurobiological.html">Neurobiological Aspects of Suicide</a></sub><br>
<sub>[6] <a href="http://www.mentalhelp.net/poc/view_doc.php?type=doc&amp;id=29060">An Interview with Thomas Joiner, Ph.D. on Why People Commit Suicide</a></sub></p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-02-10T05:51:16.360Z
The blog cartoon is amazing!
user118967
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-09-01T21:40:39.737Z
2014-09-01T22:14:53.273Z
2014-09-01T22:14:53.273Z
anongoodnurse
<p>As a person who has dealt with 12 years of chronic bipolar depression and anxiety with multiple serious suicide attempts, I would say that much of reason behind the attempts have to do with <em>pure absolute exhaustion</em>. The coping skills are there but they are hard to practice everyday.  I say “practice” because performing mundane tasks such as brushing my teeth or putting on a shirt feels much like part of a day long yoga routine. The intrusive thoughts and the dialogue wear me out. The feeling that this could go on for another decade felt too overwhelming for me. </p>

<p>If some one became a paraplegic and confined to bed for most of their life but is mentally healthy, they may make peace with this by adapting to their situation. Listening to audio books, watching movies, writing, etc. 
In the case of someone who has had too many severe episodes of not being able to leave bed or normal periods of having minuscule energy due to depression, things are different. The depressive cannot focus, draw pleasure from distractions, and paralyzed by fear.</p>

<p>In many ways suicide makes logical sense in the same way that a caged animal would be willing to bite off a limb to escape this cage.</p>

<p>There is research that suggests that suicidality has its causes in specific chemical imbalances in the brain. </p>

<p><a href="https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-origins-of-suicidal-brains/" rel="noreferrer">https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-origins-of-suicidal-brains/</a></p>

<p>Which is why, I believe when a new medication was added to my cocktail of meds, my suicidal thoughts vanished within 48 hours.</p>

<p>My theory is that the cause of suicide is extreme mental distress from chemical imbalance and that once conceived, takes on a life of its own and becomes a monster. It is a resolve that most people set plans for but provides soothing effects for people who believe that they will soon have relief. </p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-02-10T05:29:09.463Z
Thank you. As someone who came here to try to get a glimpse of the motivations behind suicide, this helped me make more sense of it.
user118967
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-02-02T06:52:41.590Z
2020-02-02T15:05:48.183Z
2020-02-02T15:05:48.183Z
user25219
<p>I don't understand why people commit suicide. </p>

<p>If I imagine myself in a really bad situation and make a list of what kind of things I would do in that situation, I don't have suicide even in my top-100 things to do in my list! In the worst situation I would abandon everything and go on a trip!</p>

<p>So why do people not just throw away everything instead of committing suicide?</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-09-02T15:41:55.617Z
There are some close votes due to the question being primarily opinion based. While there is some personalization in the question, the topic itself is the subject of [extensive research](http://scholar.google.com/scholar?hl=en&q=suicide&btnG=&as_sdt=1%2C15&as_sdtp=) and seems to have plenty of solid empirical ground to stand on.
Josh
<emotion><depression>
Why do people commit suicide?
TheGoodUser
# Why do people commit suicide?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2014-09-01)

I don't understand why people commit suicide.

If I imagine myself in a really bad situation and make a list of what kind of things I would do in that situation, I don't have suicide even in my top-100 things to do in my list! In the worst situation I would abandon everything and go on a trip!

So why do people not just throw away everything instead of committing suicide?

**Tags:** emotion, depression

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: There are some close votes due to the question being primarily opinion based. While there is some personalization in the question, the topic itself is the subject of [extensive research](http://scholar.google.com/scholar?hl=en&q=suicide&btnG=&as_sdt=1%2C15&as_sdtp=) and seems to have plenty of solid empirical ground to stand on.  

---

## 2 answers

### Answer by username_2 on 2014-09-01. Score: 18

The truth is that *very few people* who haven't seriously contemplated suicide, or who haven't dealt extensively with many people who have, really understand it. They will, like you, not figure it out, thinking there are so many other options available to them. It is even more puzzling when wealthy people, who have so many more options than most, do so, while hungry homeless people hang on.

If you are serious about the answer, I recommend reading [this blog post](http://hyperboleandahalf.blogspot.com/2013/05/depression-part-two.html) for a quick and accurate cartoon version of one person's deep depression.

In the US (where I live), suicide is the third leading cause of death for adolescents 15 to 19 years old.[1] From 1999 to 2010, the age-adjusted suicide rate for adults aged 35–64 years in the United States increased significantly by 28.4%, from 13.7 to 17.6 per 100,000 population.[2] There are ~35,000 known suicides/year (and likely more undiscovered.)

J.John Mann MD, a leading researcher in the neurobiology of suicide (trained in Psychiatry and Internal Medicine with a Doctorate in Neurochemistry) employs functional brain imaging, neurochemistry and molecular genetics to probe the causes of mental illness and suicide. A number of abstracts of his papers are available online. His research points to problems in the ventromedial prefrontal cortex of the brain.[3][4] A recent paper[5] summarizes the neurobiological, environmental, genetic and familial influences.

Perhaps most relevant to your question is that there seem to be prerequisites to suicide which you may never have experienced, which must include all of the following:

> * psychological pain (a sense of being a burden to others)
> * a profound sense of loneliness, alienation and isolation
> * a pervasive sense of pessimism/hopelessness
> * a sense of fearlessness (or impulsivity and aggression)

If one is afraid of death, one will not likely commit suicide.[6]

[1] [CDC.gov](http://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/pub/youth_suicide.html)  
[2] [Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report](http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm6217a1.htm)  
[3] [Neurobiology of suicidal behaviour](http://www.nature.com/nrn/journal/v4/n10/full/nrn1220.html)  
[4] [The Neurobiology of Suicide](http://www.columbia.edu/itc/hs/medical/psychmed/1_2004/neuro_suicide.pdf)  
[5] [Neurobiological Aspects of Suicide](https://www.omh.ny.gov/omhweb/savinglives/Volume2/neurobiological.html)  
[6] [An Interview with Thomas Joiner, Ph.D. on Why People Commit Suicide](http://www.mentalhelp.net/poc/view_doc.php?type=doc&id=29060)

> **Comments:**
> **username_3**: The blog cartoon is amazing!  

---

### Answer by username_4 on 2020-02-02. Score: 5

As a person who has dealt with 12 years of chronic bipolar depression and anxiety with multiple serious suicide attempts, I would say that much of reason behind the attempts have to do with *pure absolute exhaustion*. The coping skills are there but they are hard to practice everyday. I say “practice” because performing mundane tasks such as brushing my teeth or putting on a shirt feels much like part of a day long yoga routine. The intrusive thoughts and the dialogue wear me out. The feeling that this could go on for another decade felt too overwhelming for me.

If some one became a paraplegic and confined to bed for most of their life but is mentally healthy, they may make peace with this by adapting to their situation. Listening to audio books, watching movies, writing, etc.
In the case of someone who has had too many severe episodes of not being able to leave bed or normal periods of having minuscule energy due to depression, things are different. The depressive cannot focus, draw pleasure from distractions, and paralyzed by fear.

In many ways suicide makes logical sense in the same way that a caged animal would be willing to bite off a limb to escape this cage.

There is research that suggests that suicidality has its causes in specific chemical imbalances in the brain.

<https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-origins-of-suicidal-brains/>

Which is why, I believe when a new medication was added to my cocktail of meds, my suicidal thoughts vanished within 48 hours.

My theory is that the cause of suicide is extreme mental distress from chemical imbalance and that once conceived, takes on a life of its own and becomes a monster. It is a resolve that most people set plans for but provides soothing effects for people who believe that they will soon have relief.

> **Comments:**
> **username_3**: Thank you. As someone who came here to try to get a glimpse of the motivations behind suicide, this helped me make more sense of it.  

---

