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Many Efforts Have Been Made To Understand Suicidal Behavior.However,

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Many efforts have been made to understand suicidal behavior. However, the causes of suicidal behavior are not fully understood. Theories of suicide shed light on this complexity and allow an overarching framework to understand how protective and predictive factors relate to suicidal behaviors. In addition to the broad view that theories afford, researchers attempt to identify variables that are associated with an increased probability of suicidal behaviors which are known as risk factors. Even though the diverse array of factors linked with suicidal behaviors have been identified in the extant research literature, they mostly do not account for why people try to end their lives (O’Connor & Nock, 2014). Consider a prominent example, …show more content…

Personal history, more precisely a previous suicide attempt, is the strongest risk factor for subsequent suicide death (AFSP, 2015; Biddle et al., 2012; De Leo, Draper, Snowdon, & Kõlves, 2013; WHO, 2014). Due to practicalities limit, it is impossible to include all robust variables associated with suicidal behavior. Consequently, this section only includes those risk factors shown to be associated with increased risk for lethal suicidal behavior, as this is the primary outcome of this study. Table 1 lists these risk factors and the nature of studies included in this section. This section will present a review of age, gender, race and ethnicity, prior suicidal behaviors, mental illness, physical illness, and alcohol use. Noted that this is not an exhaustive list of risk factors, however, these risk factors are the most empirical support factors for suicide. Since in most cases it is a combination of factors that leads to the choice of suicide, it will be artificial to deal with these factors in isolation. Hence, the interrelationship between various factors will be discussed in this section.
Age. There are a considerable disparities in rates and risks of suicide by age. The WHO (2014) reports the highest rate of suicide is found in men and women aged 70 years or over. In some countries, the highest rate of suicide is found in individuals between the ages of 15 and 29 years old. Interestingly,

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