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The Influence of Social Networks in Suicidal Behavior Perspective iMedPub Journals INTERNATIONAL ARCHIVES OF MEDICINE 2015 http://journals.imed.pub SECTION: PSYCHIATRY AND MENTAL HEALTH Vol. 8 No. 125 ISSN: 1755-7682 doi: 10.3823/1724 The influence of Social Networks in Suicidal Behavior PERSPECTIVE Bruno Gonçalves Leite1, Victoria Otoni Amorim1, Amanda Maria Costa Silva1, Angelo Cantalice Freire da Silva1, João Pedro Torres da Silva1, Ákila Macêdo Freire1, Sonilde Saraiva Januário2, Daniela Cavalcanti e Silva Novais Carvalho2, Edglê Pedro de Sousa Filho2, Uilna Natércia Soares Feitosa2, Emídio Antonio de Araújo Neto2, Susanne dos Santos Rocha3, Modesto Leite Rolim Neto1,2, Cícera Janielly de Matos Cassiano1 1 Faculty of Medicine, Estácio -FMJ, Juazeiro do Norte, Ceará, Brazil. Abstract 2 Postgraduate Program in Health Sciences, FMABC, Santo André, São Suicide is a serious public health problem worldwide in which they Paulo, Brazil. 3 Medicine and Specialties Dr. Emídio, act influences multifactorial. We seek to clarify how social networks Cajazeiras, Paraíba, Brazil. act on suicidal behavior. In this context, we conclude that the way in social networks interact with the risk factors determining how it can Contact information: intervene in individual. Modesto Leite Rolim Neto. Suicide is a cause of death in which psychological factors are di- [email protected] rectly involved, as the individual ultimately forms a decisive intention to end their own life [1, 2, 3]. The suicidal downward spiral starts with ideation, which functions as an indicator of vulnerability and might lead to a suicide attempt or suicide. Suicidal ideation specifically in- volves thoughts about ending one’s own life, from a range of general Keywords thoughts about death to more specific and elaborate ways to commit Suicidal Behavior; Risk Factors; suicide. [4, 5] Suicidal ideation presents itself as one of the main pre- Social Networks. dictors of suicidal risk, being used in many researches to estimate the presence of a suicidal process. [5] Every year 800000 people die from suicide, with a rate of 11.4 per 100000. [6, 7] The WHO estimates that suicide represents 1.8% of the total global burden of disease and as such, suicide is a major, worldwide public health issue. [7] Borges et al. (2010) found that suicidal behaviors and their risk factors occur in the same prevalence and frequency for developed and developing countries. Social disad- vantage and suicide might be associated due to several factors, such as higher incidence of mental disorders and lower access to medical care in such populations, even in developed countries. [8, 9] While definitions of young adulthood vary, this period in the lifespan (approximately 18 to 35-40 years of age) is characterized by challen- ges regarding intimacy, occupation and lifestyle choices. [10, 11, 16] © Under License of Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License This article is available at: www.intarchmed.com and www.medbrary.com 1 INTERNATIONAL ARCHIVES OF MEDICINE 2015 SECTION: PSYCHIATRY AND MENTAL HEALTH Vol. 8 No. 125 ISSN: 1755-7682 doi: 10.3823/1724 Young adulthood is a crucial time for establishing ponents; Risk factors associated with Medicines and one’s professional and personal future, with effects Drugs in general that interfere with bipolar disorder; on health in both the short and long term. [12, Risk factors associated with Biological components; 16] Young people are at a particular risk of suicide, Risk factors associated with Psychological causes; which represents the second leading cause of death and Risk factors associated with components of Re- in this age group. [13, 16] Globally, suicide attempts ligious and Spiritual. [78] tend to decline with age; in France, the highest rates In the late 19th century, Emile Durkheim propo- of suicide attempts are observed between ages 15- sed that rates of suicide were partly associated with 19 years in women and between ages 20-25 years the extent to which individuals felt integrated with in men. [14, 16] Yet young adults are among the society and societal groups such as work and family. groups the least likely to seek care for psychological [32, 7] Durkheim proposed that a more dislocated problems. [15, 16] For each completed suicide, it is society would lead to increased rates of suicide. estimated that 100-200 adolescents make nonlethal More recent sociological accounts use network suicide attempts. [17, 18] Recent scientific eviden- theory to specify the relationship between suicide ces show that young people’s suicidal behaviours and the ‘presence or absence of interlocking social (suicidal ideation and suicide attempts) are complex relationships’. [33, 7] phenomena that seem to be rising, composing an As Miller and Colleagues [18, pgs 286-287] note: important highlight of attention for social policies. 'The sociological theory of suicide, [34, 18] the psy- [19, 5] chache theory of suicide, [35, 18] and the interper- Since the seminal sociological study by Durkheim sonal psychological theory of suicide (IPTS) [36-18] in the late nineteenth century [20, 29], suicides suggest that inadequate social support and strong have been studied for both sociology interests and interpersonal relationships increase risk for suicidal public health reasons. In particular, Durkheim and ideation and suicide attempts. The need to belong, later scholars pointed out that social isolation, also in particular, is a central theme in Joiner’s IPTS. The- referred to as the lack of social integration, is a sig- se theories complement developmental research, nificant contributor to suicidal behavior. [20-23, 29] which suggests that the maintenance of strong re- Roles of social isolation in inducing other physical lationships with parents while concurrently establis- and mental illnesses have also been examined. [24, hing an independent network of close friends and 29] Conceptual models that inherit Durkheim’s idea close community connections (often within school also claim that social networks affect general health settings) [37, 18] is needed for normative socioemo- conditions including tendency to suicide. [25-28, 29] tional growth.’ Students with proper social support Although suicide is a weighty problem in pu- networks find it easier to develop coping strategies blic health worldwide, issues related to developing towards hostile situations. On the other hand, absent effective screening and preventive interventions are or weak social/family support often is often assumed still unresolved. [30, 31] Researchers have sought as a higher suicide behaviour risk factor. [38-40, 5] to identify the risk factors associated with suicide Recent literature reviews conclude that perceived so- that could provide targets for effective prevention cial support from parents and peers plays an impor- program. [31] tant role in the development of adolescent Suicidal Costa et Al [78], (2014) distribution risk factors ideation and suicide attempts. [41, 18] previously determined in six Categories as follows: A mental health diagnosis is a strong predictor Risk factors associated with sociodemographic com- of suicidal behavior and nine out of 10 people who ponentes; Risk factors associated with genetic com- end their life will have experienced clinically signifi- 2 This article is available at: www.intarchmed.com and www.medbrary.com INTERNATIONAL ARCHIVES OF MEDICINE 2015 SECTION: PSYCHIATRY AND MENTAL HEALTH Vol. 8 No. 125 ISSN: 1755-7682 doi: 10.3823/1724 cant mental health problems. [42, 3] One potential community related to suicide. Then, we statistically risk factor that has received comparatively little at- compare users with and without suicide ideation in tention is the stigma associated with mental health terms of users’ properties including those related to problems and associated experience of discrimina- egocentric networks. tion. [43, 7] It has been suggested that the accep- In contrast, previous studies showed that suici- tance of stigmatizing beliefs about mental illness dal behavior is less observed for individuals with may influence levels of hopelessness. [44, 45, 7] For more friends. [58, 59, 29] It has also been a long- example, if individuals accept that they have a men- standing claim that social isolation elicits suicidal tal health problem, and internalize the often ne- behavior. [20-23, 29] As compared to typical users, gative stereotypes associated with mental illnesses some users may spend a lot of time online to gain (e.g. dangerousness, chronicity), they will feel more many ties with other users and belong to many hopeless and despairing of their future. Perceived communities on the SNS. Such a user may be active racial discrimination and experience of acculturation exclusively online and feel lonely, for example, to be in minority ethnic communities has been associated prone to suicide ideation. Although this is a mere with increased risk of suicidal ideation [46, 47, 7] conjecture, such a mechanism would also explain and there are similar findings in the Lesbian, Gay, the strong contribution of the community number Bisexual and Transgender communities. [48, 49, 7] to suicide ideation revealed in our analysis. [29] More recently, studies have shown a relationship Media portrayals of suicide, in the news as well between diabetes and psychiatric disorders. In fact, as entertainment media, have been associated with a recent survey showed that the prevalence of de- increases in suicide, particularly amongst the young. pression is approximately 10% higher in diabetic [60-64, 66] This phenomenon, known as suicidal patients.
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