What Are the Causes of Suicidal Thoughts?

Suicidal thoughts can cripple a person's will to live. Depression and suicide are closely linked. Nevertheless, suicide ideation may be caused by a variety of factors, including environmental pressures, cultural standards and even a person's genetic information.

Chemical Imbalances

• Chemical imbalances within a person's brain, such as decreased levels of Serotonin, may be related to the prevalence of suicidal thoughts. During a rehabilitation process, an abuser of illegal drugs, alcohol or prescription drugs may also experience thoughts of suicide ideation as a result of chemical imbalances in the brain.

Environmental Pressures

• Environmental pressures, such as ailing economic conditions or a sudden spike in celebrity suicides, may cause otherwise sane people to contemplate suicidal thoughts.

Heredity

• A person's heredity may predispose him or her to consider suicide as an option. In addition to emulating the thoughts and behaviors of a depressive parent, this subject may also be affected by a condition such as schizophrenia or autism. Suicidal thoughts are common to subjects who are afflicted with these conditions.

Culture

• Vincent Mark Durand and David H. Barlow, authors of the text Essentials of Abnormal Psychology, suggest that certain suicidal behavior are culturally acceptable, "such as the ancient custom of hara-kiri in Japan, in which an individual who brought dishonor to himself or his family was expected to impale himself on a sword."

Psychological Factors

• Depression and suicide often result from psychological factors, such as low self-esteem. Sociologist Emile Durkheim categorized three types of suicide that involved a subject's psychologically based suicide ideation: egoistic suicides, anomic suicides and fatalistic suicides.