What does the research behind suicide help us understand about those who end their lives? What do we need to understand about suicide in order to keep those we love safe?  In this episode, we review Thomas Joiner’s Interpersonal Model of Suicide. We discuss how isolation, feeling like you’re a burden, and access to means overlap to become a lethal recipe for some people.  We look at how impulsivity factors into suicidal ideation as well as things like substance misuse, mental illness, and trauma.

Additionally, we discuss how in repeated studies, as countries modernize, rates of depression and suicide rise. What does living in a more industrialized world do to our mental health and why? As technology and global crisis continue to change the ways we interact, we can’t help but wonder, what did our ancestors do differently that lead to less depression? The study of suicide is a relatively new thing.  In fact, the first national organization to study suicide wasn’t formed until 1968. For more about this, check out our blog, “The Study of Suicide.”