Suicide-Social Disease.

Suicide currently competes with road accidents as the leading cause of death in the 15-24 year old age group in Australia. Suicide rates have increased dramatically in recent times with statistical research showing that both gender and geographical differences are quite marked, with young  men in rural areas most at risk.

In studying the causes of suicide, psychiatrists emphasise individual mental states including depression, schizophrenia and substance abuse, although studies have indicated that the correlation between mental illness and suicidal behaviour is not strong. Psychiatrists subscribe to the theory of "accumulated trauma" which suggests that emotional disturbances already present can be triggered or manipulated by external factors resulting in suicidal behaviour.

In explaining national suicide rates, sociologists argue that we must look more closely to social facotrs, basing their contentions on the ideology that human beings are social animals strongly influenced bu the social structures within which they operate. Emile Durkheim (1897), was a pivotal voice for this argument with his hypothesis that the critical social variable in suicide rates was the level of social integration, with socially detached, isolated or unintegrated individuals more frequently suiciding than individuals who were involved in their community, enjoying both social and economic attachments. The French sociologist, in his studies on patterns of suicide and causative factors, found that certain categories of people were more susceptible to suicidal behaviour and that social forces appeared to be reflected in the statistics on suicide, with fewer suicides being recorded during war time than in peace; more in times of economic stability; more Protestants than Catholics and Jews. Married people register significantly lower incidences of suicide than divorced or single people. Unemployment is a significant predisposing factor for suicide among males in the 20-24 age group.

It is clear that social changes play an important role. The recent statistical increases in suicide rates among young men cannot be seen as a drastic increase in biological mental illness. It must be concluded that the human being is a complex individual operating within a complex social structure and the influences of social factors and relationships, as well as an increasingly impersonal society are largely responsible for the frequency of suicide.

Leda Fox is the author of The Butterfly Plan which is a guide to rebalancing and transforming your life.