Stress and Epigenetics in Suicide

Vsevolod Rozanov

• Publisher: Academic Press
• Year: 2017
• ISBN:
  9780128052860
• Topic: Medicine
• Subtopic: Endocrinology & Metabolism

Stress and Epigenetics in Suicide discusses the central role of epigenetic modifications in suicidal behavior. As early-life stress and an individual's ability to cope with such stressors, combined with psychological factors, social factors, and existential and cognitive factors can predispose young people to suicidal behavior and put them at added risk of suicidal behavior later in life, this book provides readers with an overview of the neurobiology of stress, an introduction to the epigenetic changes induced by stress, and an understanding of how vulnerability and resilience to stress are built.

It integrates these mechanisms into a biobehavioral model of suicide based on epigenetic marks, gene-environment interactions, and other stressors. More importantly, it provides future direction for research and discusses potential interventions.

This book is an ideal and trusted resource for researchers and clinicians who are interested in learning how the environment can affect behavior through genetics, and for those seeking the development of new methods for suicide prevention.

• Explores the neurobiology of stress and stress-related epigenetics, including discussion of the role of stress-induced epigenetic changes in behavioral, emotional, and cognitive mechanisms and whether these epigenetic marks are transgenerational
• Provides compelling biobehavioral models of suicide based on genetics, epigenetics, and behavioral adjustment
• Integrates social, psychological, and existential influences, giving readers a better understanding of the interdisciplinary nature of suicide risk factors
• Presents future directions for suicide-prevention strategies that incorporate recent research on genomics and stress resilience

Chapter 1

Recent Tendencies in Suicide and Mental Health Among Younger Generations and Current Explanations

Abstract

Analysis of suicide trends among young people in a historical perspective from the second half of 20th century to most recent time allows making a conclusion that dominating tendency is growing of suicide rates in the youngest adolescents. It coincides with growing prevalence of mental health problems among young people in many regions of the world. Surveys also reveal growing subjective complaints, accumulation of psychopathologies and even evolution of personality traits, as well as the shift in life goals and values from intrinsic to extrinsic ones. The reasons are seen in the conflict between traditional values and cultures and globalizing western culture, which promotes consumerism, individualism, hedonism, materialism, the cult of success and unreasonably high expectations in young people. Being supported by enhanced information pressure these factors become even more destructive. In general, it gives an impression of the level of stress that is, experienced by young people, which is associated with tension, frustrations and unfulfilled expectations and may lead to suicides of the most vulnerable individuals.

Keywords

young people

suicide

mental health

conflict of cultures

information pressure

stress

Suicide is a serious problem of public health in the modern world. It becomes an even more serious problem with global information pressure and universal availability of information today, including descriptions of suicide cases by the mass media. Of course, suicide mortality is much lower than mortality from most widespread noncommunicable diseases like myocardial infarction or cerebral stroke, and this is often used as justification for lower interest and fewer efforts regarding prevention. But the psychological and moral impact of suicide is very high and cannot be measured in purely economic or organizational terms. It is especially true for youth suicides which constitute a growing problem in many countries on all continents. Of course, if look at the death rates in demographic groups, suicide rate in the older age (>75) population is the highest, while in people under 24 it is the lowest. On the other hand, for the last 60 years there is a distinct global shift—among those who die of suicide the portion of young people under 45 exceeded the portion of people over 45 years old (Bertolote & Fleischmann, 2009). Moreover, suicides in the youngest, for instance aged 15–24 years, become more and more prevalent. Official statistics of WHO says that in the developed world in 2010 suicide was one of the leading causes of death (and in some countries–the first) for people aged 15–49 years (Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, 2010). Thus, we are facing a grave paradox—better living conditions, better and more balanced nutrition, modern medical aid with all possible progress in psychiatry and psychology, better education, technological progress, and free access to information, as well as rich personal freedoms and higher value of human life in the modern society—that does not prevent young people from killing themselves. On the contrary, it seems that all these progressive developments have sometimes negative consequences for some part of new generations of young people, while vulnerability of the youngest, aged 13–15 years, seems to be the highest. Of course, it raises a lot of questions and concerns in the public. Those who have devoted themselves to suicide research and prevention are often approached by mass media and representatives of public with the most frequent question—why? What is the reason? And of course, who is to blame?

Adolescents and young adults’ suicides have been in the focus of many studies, which are systematically overviewed (Pfeffer, 2000; de Wilde, 2000; Wasserman, 2009a; Rozanov, 2014b; Kolves & DeLeo, 2014; 2015; Apter & Gvion, 2016). Age and sex differences, cultural peculiarities, life stress (negative life events), mental illness, and drug abuse, as well as mass media exposure and contagion, are most widely discussed. Among social and psychological factors, role of family situation, school problems, risky behaviors, bullying and peer victimization, nonsuicidal self-harm, and some psychopathologies and traits (anxiety, depression, sensation and novelty seeking, low self-esteem, and thwarted identity) are mentioned. Much attention is paid to neurodevelopmental mechanisms and such predisposing factors as the differential maturation of emotional and cognitive structures of the brain, which may result in risky behaviors, mood swings, impaired decision making, problem-solving, and cognitive rigidity (Pfeffer, 2000; de Wilde, 2000; Bursztein, 2009b; Rozanov, 2014b; Kolves & DeLeo, 201...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title page
• Table of Contents
• Copyright
• Introduction
• Chapter 1: Recent Tendencies in Suicide and Mental Health Among Younger Generations and Current Explanations
• Chapter 2: Neurobiology of Stress—From Homeostasis to Allostasis and How Social Environment is Involved
• Chapter 3: What Is Epigenetics? Is It Transgenerational?
• Chapter 4: Biological Embedding—How Early Life Stress Shapes Behaviors Later in Life and How Vulnerability is Built
• Chapter 5: Interactions and Integrations—Biobehavioral Model of Suicide Based on Genetics, Epigenetics, and Behavioral Adjustment
• Chapter 6: Ideas for Prevention
• Conclusions
• Index