Task II: Reading and Writing for Information and Understanding

Source: "Suicide", by Allen Berman. Microsoft Encarta 98 Encyclopedia.

Chart of "The Suicide Rate in the United States" by Center of Health Statistics, Microsoft Encarta 98

 

Directions to Students:

For this part of the test, you will read and interpret information from two sources, answer a set of multiple-choice questions, and write a response based on the situation given below. You may use the margins or the blank page to make notes during your reading.

The Situation: You are asked to write an article for your school newspaper discussing what might be the causes for the different suicide rate among different age groups.

You Task: Write an essay of 250 words or more to explain what might have caused the different rate of suicide rate among different age groups.

 

Guidelines:

 

Suicide, is an intentional, self-inflicted death. A uniquely human act, suicide occurs in all cultures. People who attempt or complete suicide usually suffer from extreme emotional pain and distress and feel unable to cope with their problems. They are likely to suffer from mental illness, particularly severe depression, and to feel hopeless about the future.

Prevalence and Trends

Suicide ranks as a leading cause of death worldwide, making it a significant public-health problem. In addition, some researchers believe official statistics underestimate the actual number of suicides.

In the United States

 

In the United States, suicide ranks in the top ten causes of death, accounting for about 1.5 percent of all deaths. The annual number of suicides has averaged about 30,000 since the late 1980s and has consistently exceeded the annual number of homicides. The suicide rate (number of suicide deaths per 100,000 people) in the United States has remained relatively stable since the 1950s, ranging between 10 and 13 per 100,000 each year.

The suicide rate varies by age group. Of all age groups, the elderly have the highest suicide rates, particularly white men over the age of 75. The increased rate of suicide among elderly people appears mostly due to the debilitating effects of physical illness, loss of social roles and relationships, and untreated depression. Suicide rates for people between the ages of 15 and 24 tripled between 1950 and 1993. The reasons for this increase are not entirely clear, but researchers have associated it with a greater prevalence of mental illness in young people, an increased use of drugs in this population, and the increased availability of firearms in the home.

Suicide rates also vary between men and women and between ethnic groups. Men complete about 80 percent of all suicides. However, women attempt suicide three times as frequently as men. Among men, Native Americans have the highest suicide rate, followed by whites. White men and women account for about 90 percent of all suicides.

Causes

Suicidal behavior has numerous and complex causes. The biology of the brain, genetics, psychological traits, and social forces all can contribute to suicide. Although people commonly attribute suicide to external circumstances—such as divorce, loss of a job, or failure in school—most experts believe these events are triggers rather than causes in themselves.

The majority of people who kill themselves suffer from depression that is often undiagnosed and untreated. Because depression so often underlies suicide, studying the causes of depression can help scientists understand the causes of suicide (see Depression: Causes). Other mental illnesses, such as bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, and anxiety disorders may also contribute to suicidal behavior.

Biological Perspectives

 

Research indicates that suicidal behavior runs in families, suggesting that genetic and biological factors play a role in one’s suicide risk. Among one community of Amish people in Pennsylvania, almost three-quarters of all suicides that occurred over a 100-year period were in just four families. Studies of twins reared apart provide some support for a genetic influence in suicide.

People may inherit a genetic predisposition to certain psychiatric disorders, such as schizophrenia and alcoholism, that increase the risk of suicide. In addition, an inability to control impulsive and violent behavior may have biological roots. Research has found lower than normal levels of a substance associated with the brain chemical serotonin in people with impulsive aggressiveness.

Psychological Theories

In the early 1900s Austrian psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud developed some of the first psychological theories of suicide. He emphasized the role of hostility turned against the self. American psychiatrist Karl Menninger elaborated on Freud’s ideas. He suggested that all suicides have three interrelated and unconscious dimensions: revenge/hate (a wish to kill), depression/hopelessness (a wish to die), and guilt (a wish to be killed).

An American psychologist considered to be a pioneer in the modern study of suicide, Edwin Schneidman, has described several common characteristics of suicides. These include a sense of unbearable psychological pain, a sense of isolation from others, and the perception that death is the only solution to problems about which one feels hopeless and helpless. Cognitive theorists, who study how people process information, emphasize the role of inflexible thinking or tunnel vision ("life is awful, death is the only alternative") and an inability to generate solutions to problems. According to psychologists, many suicide attempts are a symbolic cry for help, an effort to reach out and receive attention.

Sociological Theories

 

Most social scientists believe that a society’s structure and values can influence suicide rates. French sociologist Émile Durkheim argued that suicide rates are related to social integration—that is, the degree to which an individual feels part of a larger group. Durkheim found suicide was more likely when a person lacked social bonds or had relationships disrupted through a sudden change in status, such as unemployment. As one example of the significance of social bonds, suicide rates among adults are lower for married people than for divorced, widowed, or single people.

Studies consistently show that although suicidal people do not appear to have greater life stress than others, they lack effective strategies to cope with stress. In addition, they are more likely than others to have had family loss and turmoil, such as the death of a family member, separation or divorce of their parents, or child abuse or neglect. The parents of those who attempt suicide have a greater frequency of mental illness and substance abuse than other parents. However, suicide occurs in all types of families, including those with little apparent turmoil.

Fluctuations in social and economic conditions frequently result in changes in the suicide rate. In the United States, for example, suicide rates declined during World War I (1914-1918) and World War II (1939-1945), when unemployment was low, but increased during the Great Depression of the 1930s, when unemployment was high. Occasionally, people commit suicide as a form of protest against the policies of a particular government. Mass suicides, in which large numbers of people kill themselves at the same time, are extremely rare. The most famous mass suicides occurred in AD 73 at Masada in what is now southern Israel, when 960 Jews killed themselves rather than face enslavement by Roman captors; and in 1978 in Jonestown, Guyana, when more than 900 cult members committed suicide on the orders of their leader, Jim Jones.

Risk Factors

Certain aspects of a person’s life increase the likelihood that the person will attempt or complete suicide. Studies have shown that one of the best predictors of suicidal intent is hopelessness. People with a sense of hopelessness may come to perceive suicide as the only alternative to a pained existence. People with mental illnesses, substance-abuse disorders such as alcoholism or drug dependence, and behavioral disorders also have a higher risk of suicide. In fact, people suffering from diagnosable mental illnesses complete about 90 percent of all suicides. Physical illness also increases a person’s risk of suicide, especially when the illness is accompanied by depression. About one-third of adult suicide victims suffered from a physical illness at the time of their death.

Other risk factors include previous suicide attempts, a history of suicide among family members, and social isolation. People who live alone or lack close friends may not receive emotional support that would otherwise protect them from despair and irrational thinking during difficult periods of life.

Impact on Others

Suicide has a devastating emotional impact on surviving family members and friends. The intentional, sudden, and violent nature of the person’s death often makes others feel abandoned, helpless, and rejected. A family member or friend may have the added burden of discovering the body of the suicide victim. Parents often suffer exaggerated feelings of shame and guilt. Because of the social stigma, or shame, surrounding suicide, survivors may avoid talking to others about the person who died, and others may avoid the survivors. Despite these extra problems, research has shown that suicide survivors go through the same grieving process as other bereaved people and eventually recover from grief. Support groups may be particularly helpful for grieving suicide survivors.

Some evidence suggests that highly publicized suicides—those of celebrities, for example—may cause vulnerable individuals, especially teens, to kill themselves. However, these findings are controversial and other studies have found no such imitative effect.

Answer the multiple-choice questions:

  1. Which group has the highest suicide rate according to the chart?

    2. a) Teenagers

    b) Middle-aged group

    c) People over 75

    d) People between 20-30

  2. Suicide ---
  1. is not an important factor for death.
  2. is one of the top ten causes for death.
  3. only happens among young people.
  4. Only happens among senior people.

3.The increased rate of suicide among elderly people appears mostly due to--

  1. loss of social roles and relationships, debilitating effects of physical illness
  2. old age
  3. the death his/her spouse
  4. mental illness
  1. Suicide for people between the age of 15 to 24 is directly due to --
  1. mental illness
  2. use of drugs
  3. broken relationship
  4. not entirely clear

5. Which statement is not true? The possible cause for suicide---

a. The biology of the brain, genetics

  1. Psychological traits
  2. Social forces
  3. External circumstances

6.Which statement is not true?
  1. It is for certain that if parents commit suicide, the children will follow their footsteps.
  2. Genetic and biological factors play a role in one’s suicide risk.
  3. Among one community of Amish people in Pennsylvania, almost three-quarters of all suicides that occurred over a 100-year period were in just four families
  4. People may inherit a genetic predisposition to certain psychiatric disorders, such as schizophrenia and alcoholism that increase the risk of suicide.

7.According to Sigmund Freud, which is not part the three interrelated and unconscious dimentions:
  1. revenge/hate (a wish to kill)
  2. depression/hopelessness (a wish to die)
  3. guilt (a wish to be killed)
  4. love

8. Which statement is not what most social scientists believe---
  1. A society’s structure and values can influence suicide rates.
  2. Married people never commit suicide.
  3. When a person lacks social bonds or has relationships disrupted through a sudden change in status, such as unemployment, suicide is more likely to happen.
  4. Suicidal people do not appear to have greater life stress than others, they lack effective strategies to cope with stress.

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