Gender Differences

In the United States, men have completion rates that are roughly three times higher than those for
women.

This is not clearly understood but is usually explained as due to methodology that is, women are more
inclined to choose methods of lower lethality and less disfigurement and that are less painful, such as
pills; consequently, there is a greater margin of safety post attempt for women than for men (who are
more apt to choose methods of higher lethality, such as guns).

Is it a reflection of a culture in which women are allowed more latitude of emotional expression
(particularly sadness) and more lability than men?

Similar arguments posit that men are supposed to be strong, macho, and deliberate in Western culture,
keeping their sad feelings to themselves, so that a depressed man has presumably brooded a long time
about suicide before he acts and has had ample time to arrange for a highly lethal means to carry out his
suicidal plan.

Another theory is that the lower female completion rate is due to the lower rate of alcohol abuse in
women.

Another explanation for the disparity in rates is that women are more likely to seek medical help when
they are depressed or to have another mental problem than are men.

A complementary hypothesis is that women are more affiliative than menthey have a better network of
supports via friends and family and are more likely than men to discuss their feelings within these
networks, thereby possibly diminishing their suicidal feelings. They also would be more likely to have
others available to intervene, to get help, and so forth.

ETIOLOGY OF SUICIDE

Psychological Aspects

Depressed identical twins are far more likely to be concordant for suicide than nontwin pairsbut not 100
percent concordant.

This all-pervasive lens allows only hopelessness, and, ultimately, for some, suicide appears to be the only
answer. Presumably, there is no single psychological path to suicide, but there are multiple
psychodynamics that may lead to such a tragic final outcome.

Biological Aspects