Mental health articles

Although true one-to-one causation is diffi cult to establish, certain risk factors, alone or in combination, are associated with increased risk for suicidal behaviors and completed suicides. Due to the overlap in age between adolescents and college students, the risk factors for adolescents also generally apply to college students. Recently a major report on treating and preventing adolescent mental health disorders listed the following factors associated with suicidal behavior (Hendin et al., 2005): Psychopathology Depression Drug and alcohol abuse Aggressive-impulsive behavior Hopelessness Pessimism Conduct disorder (male) Panic disorder (female) Family and genetic Family history of suicidal behavior Parental psychopathology

Environment
Firearm availability
Diminished family cohesion
Lack of parental support
Parent–child confl ict
Negative life-events
Child sex abuse
Suicide contagion
Biology
High 5-HT (5-hydroxytryptamine = serotonin) receptor expression
in prefrontal cortex and hippocampus
Serotonergic dysfunction
Previous suicidal behavior
Suicide attempts
Sexual orientation
Same-sex sexual orientation

Tags: suicide