Suicide is caused by all sorts of things, but the root is usually addiction.
The San Fernando Valley Dental Society newsletter recently included a question, directed to Suicide expert and Distinguished Professor Emeritus at the University of South Carolina Ronald Maris, PhD: “Dr. Maris, I have heard that dentists have the highest suicide rate. Is this true?” Dr. Maris responded, “Wrong question. Dentistry, or any occupation for that matter, doesn’t make you kill yourself.” That’s true. However, Dr. Maris continued. “What causes suicide is a subtle mixture and interaction over time…of…mental disorder (especially depressive disorder), substance abuse (especially alcoholism)…hopelessness, cognitive rigidity…social isolation or rejection (including divorce…), repeated stress and negative life events…neurotransmitter…imbalances and dysfunctions (mainly in the prefrontal cortex), unemployment, impulsivity, [and] sleep disorder….” While Dr. Maris, to be fair, mentions several other “causes,” all of the above—mental disorders, hopelessness, cognitive rigidity, social rejection, divorce, stress, negative events, messed up neurotransmitter activity, damage to the prefrontal cortex, unemployment, impulsivity and sleep disorders—is an excellent list of common symptoms of and, therefore, clues to alcohol and other-drug addiction. Dr. Maris, as do so many, confuses causes with symptoms. (Dr. Maris is a Board-certified forensic suicidologist, Past-President of the American Association of Suicidology and author of 20 books on suicide. It’s incredible that he confuses so many conditions peripheral to substance addiction as being the cause, when the root cause in so many suicides is alcoholism.)