Throughout the world, about 2000 people kill themselves each day. That’s about 80 per hour, three quarters of a million a year. In the US, there are more than 80 deaths from suicide every day, 30,000 every year. This is the equivalent of a fully booked jumbo jet crash every fifth day. In the last 45 years, suicide rates have increased by 60% worldwide. Suicide is now one of the three leading causes of death among those aged 15-44 (both sexes). Suicide attempts are up to 20 times more frequent than completed ones.

Although suicide rates have traditionally been highest among elderly males, rates among young people have increased to such an extent that they are now the group at highest risk in a third of all countries. Mental disorders (depression and substance abuse) are associated with more than 90% of all suicide cases. However, suicide results from many complex sociocultural factors and is more likely to occur during periods of socio-economic, family and individual crisis.

Thousands of books have tried to answer the question of why people kill themselves. To summarize them in three words: to stop pain. Sometimes this pain is physical, as in chronic or terminal illness; more often emotional, caused by problems.

“Reasons” cited for suicide change with the times. A widely held view is that being suicidal is itself a psychopathological condition or is a strong indication of mental illness. Psychological autopsies by skilled diagnosticians have found evidence of various forms of psychopathology in as many as 90% of completed suicides. Certainly, a person contemplating suicide is depressed, sometimes in reaction to adverse circumstances, but this mind state is not necessarily a psychiatric disorder.

Suicidal acts are complex examples of human behaviour involving many aspects of an individual’s personality, state of health, and life circumstances. Since antiquity, the decision to put an early end to one’s own life has intrigued many philosophers and clinicians. Today, explanations of suicidal behavior have largely shifted from moral philosophy to medical biology, psychology, and sociology. All approaches can contribute to understanding both individual decisions to commit suicide and to addressing the clinical and public health challenge that suicide represents. Although factors associated with biology, psychology, and sociology can contribute to “causes” of suicide, it is important to emphasise that most have been identified mainly as additional risk factors associated with suicide by clinical or epidemiological analysis.

Empirical research support for commonly employed or proposed interventions aimed at preventing suicide and suicide attempts remains strikingly limited and largely inconclusive. Nevertheless, researchers and concerned parties are constantly providing whatever information they come across in their experience. In this line, organizations have been set up to help people at risk. It is noteworthy that in such a delicate situation, it is the help of the expert that is solicited.

Amateurish advice, which unfortunately might often be available, can do more harm to the affected person. Centres to provide help to the concerned individuals are a much needed investment required by our society. If suicide can come out of the taboo enclosure, it may be more easily handled by the experts.