Why do people commit suicide?

Flynn_17

Why - social pressure, depression, self confusion, unhappiness, occasionally because they're very ill. Usually because their bad feelings outweigh their ability to cope with them. Apr 01 05, 3:55 PM

gmackematix

Why people commit suicide is an area of psychology/sociology that possibly should fall a little outside the remit of "fun" or "trivia" but with people being naturally a bit morbid probably doesn't. One of the most famous books on the subject is "Suicide" by Emile Durkheim. He attempted to show that even for an apparently anti-social act such as suicide, social factors were at least as important as psychological ones. He divided suicides into four main categories and the commonest was "anomic", caused by the victim feelng a sense of not belonging to any social group. Many of the reasons for suicides are looked at in the Wiki article on Suicide, including depression, drug abuse and extreme physical suffering. Among other things, it also points out that contrary to popular belief, the peak time for suicides is not in the winter months but in the spring. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suicide Apr 01 05, 7:27 PM

McGruff

This could be a very sensitive subject. Please adhere strictly to "why" and if you are not a professional in the field, a reference for your answer is preferred. No anecdotes, suggestions or counseling, please. Apr 02 05, 6:23 AM