Las causas del suicidio en Asia

Making Sense of a Senseless Act ( artículo procedente de "Science")
Mara Hvistendahl

He escogido el presente trabajo por ofrecer alguna luz sobre algo tan desconocido como los motivos y mecanismos que conducen al suicidio. Al parecer, en algunos países asiáticos constituye un verdadero problema de salud pública. Cuadros clínicos como la depresión aguda pueden llevar al suicidio. Pero existen tratamientos farmacológicos que previenen tal conducta extrema.

:Summary

China accounts for an estimated 22% of global suicides, or roughly 200,000 deaths every year. In India, twice as many people took their own lives in 2010 as died from HIV/AIDS. By comparison, the World Health Organization estimates that suicides in high-income countries total only 140,000 a year. Suicide rates in Japan and South Korea, however, are similar to China's (see sidebar), suggesting that this is a regional public health issue. And yet suicide in Asia is poorly understood. Emerging research is now filling that gap—and overturning prevailing notions. While mental illness remains an important correlate in Asia, researchers may learn more from a victim's family, religion, education, and personality. New findings suggest that some researchers may have misread correlation as causation.