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Suicide: A New Hypothesis on the Pathogenesis of Disease, Method of Screening, and Means of Prevention

Received: 2 August 2022    Accepted: 17 August 2022    Published: 29 August 2022
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Abstract

Suicide has become a global epidemic. Every 40 seconds, another person completes the act, and for every person who successfully commits suicide, there are many more who attempt to take their lives. Although many factors are known to increase the risk of suicide, there continues to be a lack of clarity about why some persons decide to end their lives and, equally disturbing, a lack of predictability about when they decide to end their lives. However, an emerging hypothesis contends that a subtle but highly prevalent neurophysiological abnormality is at the root of nearly all psychopathology, including suicidal thinking and behavior. According to the multi-circuit neuronal hyperexcitability hypothesis of psychiatric disorders, an inherent hyperexcitability of the neurological system causes normal thoughts and emotions to become abnormally amplified and persistent. Thus, persistent firing in anxiety circuits causes persistent feelings of anxiety; persistent firing in depressive circuits causes persistent feelings of depression; persistent firing in cognitive circuits causes ruminative and obsessive thoughts; etc... In addition to offering a biologically-based explanation for the development of psychiatric symptomatology, the severe emotional distress, loss of behavioral control, and waxing and waning of symptoms that this neurophysiological abnormality can create from an early age offers a highly plausible explanation for why an affected person might eventually attempt suicide and why the timing of that decision is so difficult to predict. This article will trace the epidemic of suicide to its molecular roots and propose a simple, objective way to assess one’s vulnerability to suicide and an equally simple way to reduce that vulnerability before it is too late.

Published in American Journal of Psychiatry and Neuroscience (Volume 10, Issue 3)
DOI 10.11648/j.ajpn.20221003.15
Page(s) 111-124
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2022. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Suicide, Neuronal Hyperexcitability, Psychobiology of Stress, Biomarkers of Disease, Preventive Medicine, Anticonvulsants, Mood Stabilizers, Neuroregulators

References
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    Michael Raymond Binder. (2022). Suicide: A New Hypothesis on the Pathogenesis of Disease, Method of Screening, and Means of Prevention. American Journal of Psychiatry and Neuroscience, 10(3), 111-124. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajpn.20221003.15

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    ACS Style

    Michael Raymond Binder. Suicide: A New Hypothesis on the Pathogenesis of Disease, Method of Screening, and Means of Prevention. Am. J. Psychiatry Neurosci. 2022, 10(3), 111-124. doi: 10.11648/j.ajpn.20221003.15

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    AMA Style

    Michael Raymond Binder. Suicide: A New Hypothesis on the Pathogenesis of Disease, Method of Screening, and Means of Prevention. Am J Psychiatry Neurosci. 2022;10(3):111-124. doi: 10.11648/j.ajpn.20221003.15

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  • @article{10.11648/j.ajpn.20221003.15,
      author = {Michael Raymond Binder},
      title = {Suicide: A New Hypothesis on the Pathogenesis of Disease, Method of Screening, and Means of Prevention},
      journal = {American Journal of Psychiatry and Neuroscience},
      volume = {10},
      number = {3},
      pages = {111-124},
      doi = {10.11648/j.ajpn.20221003.15},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajpn.20221003.15},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ajpn.20221003.15},
      abstract = {Suicide has become a global epidemic. Every 40 seconds, another person completes the act, and for every person who successfully commits suicide, there are many more who attempt to take their lives. Although many factors are known to increase the risk of suicide, there continues to be a lack of clarity about why some persons decide to end their lives and, equally disturbing, a lack of predictability about when they decide to end their lives. However, an emerging hypothesis contends that a subtle but highly prevalent neurophysiological abnormality is at the root of nearly all psychopathology, including suicidal thinking and behavior. According to the multi-circuit neuronal hyperexcitability hypothesis of psychiatric disorders, an inherent hyperexcitability of the neurological system causes normal thoughts and emotions to become abnormally amplified and persistent. Thus, persistent firing in anxiety circuits causes persistent feelings of anxiety; persistent firing in depressive circuits causes persistent feelings of depression; persistent firing in cognitive circuits causes ruminative and obsessive thoughts; etc... In addition to offering a biologically-based explanation for the development of psychiatric symptomatology, the severe emotional distress, loss of behavioral control, and waxing and waning of symptoms that this neurophysiological abnormality can create from an early age offers a highly plausible explanation for why an affected person might eventually attempt suicide and why the timing of that decision is so difficult to predict. This article will trace the epidemic of suicide to its molecular roots and propose a simple, objective way to assess one’s vulnerability to suicide and an equally simple way to reduce that vulnerability before it is too late.},
     year = {2022}
    }
    

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    AB  - Suicide has become a global epidemic. Every 40 seconds, another person completes the act, and for every person who successfully commits suicide, there are many more who attempt to take their lives. Although many factors are known to increase the risk of suicide, there continues to be a lack of clarity about why some persons decide to end their lives and, equally disturbing, a lack of predictability about when they decide to end their lives. However, an emerging hypothesis contends that a subtle but highly prevalent neurophysiological abnormality is at the root of nearly all psychopathology, including suicidal thinking and behavior. According to the multi-circuit neuronal hyperexcitability hypothesis of psychiatric disorders, an inherent hyperexcitability of the neurological system causes normal thoughts and emotions to become abnormally amplified and persistent. Thus, persistent firing in anxiety circuits causes persistent feelings of anxiety; persistent firing in depressive circuits causes persistent feelings of depression; persistent firing in cognitive circuits causes ruminative and obsessive thoughts; etc... In addition to offering a biologically-based explanation for the development of psychiatric symptomatology, the severe emotional distress, loss of behavioral control, and waxing and waning of symptoms that this neurophysiological abnormality can create from an early age offers a highly plausible explanation for why an affected person might eventually attempt suicide and why the timing of that decision is so difficult to predict. This article will trace the epidemic of suicide to its molecular roots and propose a simple, objective way to assess one’s vulnerability to suicide and an equally simple way to reduce that vulnerability before it is too late.
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Author Information
  • Department of Psychiatry, NorthShore University HealthSystem, Highland Park Hospital, Highland Park, USA

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