News Story: Suicide linked to brain changes

[worlds edge]

Big deal. The researches self-selected and looked only the brains of people who suffered a 'severe depressive disorder' before committing suicide. For this to have any validity at all IMO they'd need to try and figure how many people who commit suicide fall into this category.

Suicide linked to brain changes

The brains of people who commit suicide are chemically different to those who die from other causes, a Canadian study has suggested.

Researchers analysed brain tissue from 20 dead people and, in those who killed themselves, they found a higher rate of a process that affects behaviour.

Writing in Biological Psychiatry, they said it appeared environmental factors played a part in the changes.

continued at link

 

[Dave_N]

Big deal. The researches self-selected and looked only the brains of people who suffered a 'severe depressive disorder' before committing suicide. For this to have any validity at all IMO they'd need to try and figure how many people who commit suicide fall into this category.

I have suspected this for quite some time now actually, but this medical evidence surely supports this. So does this mean that some people are biologically programmed to commit suicide? That would be a very grim reality if this is true. The real question is how does the medical community use this newly discovered information to screen people for this elevated risk of suicide? Maybe a brain scan (CAT scan or MRI)?

 

[may_ara13]

I think this is absolutely true.
I just can't understand why the things that are killing me slowly just don't seem important to anyone.

Maybe I'm just sick to the brain.. [really]


[sorry for the bad english, im brazilian]

 

[Gunner]

I just can't understand why the things that are killing me slowly just don't seem important to anyone.

Maybe I'm just sick to the brain.. [really]


If you're sick, we're all sick.
What exactly is killing you slowly? I know there is an answer for your question.

 

[Tecky]

They have been saying that for a long time! Chemical imbalances in the brain causing suicide isn't exactly news and has been refuted in psychological journals.

I believe they said something about finding lower levels of seratonin in patients who are depressed than in 'normal' people. But think about it. What comes first? Did the depression (caused by external factors) lower the seratonin level or did a drop of seratonin level (caused by some internal biological reaction) result in depression? If they can't answer that, it means those quacks are merely making an observation and are still no closer to finding a 'cure'.

Teck