Suicide
Suicide is the 10th leading cause of death in the U.S. It is unique among psychiatric disorders in that a short, intense moment of active suicidal crisis may end a person’s life forever—the most severe of consequences. However, there is no treatment that specifically targets suicide.
Instead, therapies focus on the co-existing psychiatric disorders, including depression or schizophrenia, that have made a person feel suicidal.
There is certainly a genetic component to suicide, meaning that it can run in families. Twin studies, however, have shown there is more to it. Scientists believe epigenetics—the interaction of genes and the environment—is at play. Perhaps early trauma or illness can turn on specific genes, increasing a person’s risk of suicide. Until we unravel the biological mechanisms underlying suicide, it’s hard to fully understand, treat, or prevent it.
Suicide is the 10th leading cause of death overall in the U.S.
In 2019, there were nearly 2.5 times as many suicides as homicides in the U.S.
Lieber scientists ask what happens in the brain that makes some people take their own lives. The Lieber Institute is uniquely positioned for this research since many of our postmortem brain collection samples come from people who died by suicide. Those samples are precious in research on suicide because the biology of suicide—the underlying mechanisms that made the suicide possible—is fixed in the brain at the time of death.
Lieber researchers are looking at these biological snapshots of what occurred in the brain at the moment of suicide completion to determine what’s different about these brains. Lieber Institute researchers are even considering different types of suicide to find biological differences and similarities. The Institute’s researchers are working on a potential new treatment to reduce suicidal thoughts and prevent attempts.
“I study suicide as a separate entity with its own specific complexity and phenomenology. Severe anxiety, agitation, and impulsivity may be better indicators of suicidal behavior than a psychiatric diagnosis. There are no pharmacologic treatments to address suicide specifically. It’s imperative that we find ways to protect affected patients from the risk of harming themselves.”
Giovanna Punzi, MD, PhD, Research Scientist