Is Suicide Genetic?

A recent study has revealed that bipolar disorder — formerly known as manic depression — and the thoughts of suicide that accompany this condition "run in the family". A DNA marker has been identified as a potential target for future drugs in the treatment of this disorder, offering new hope for the sufferers.

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A Johns Hopkins-led study has found evidence that a genetic tendency toward suicide has been linked to a particular area of the genome on chromosome 2 that has been implicated in two additional recent studies of attempted suicide.

Source: Science Daily

Science may find correlations between things that happen and DNA but that does not mean because someone has a trait, they will do what the correlation says.

I believe there is very well some sort of connection but I doubt it is the sole cause. It may fuel the thoughts that are already there but nothing more. I'm sure this correlation will one day help doctors treat suicidal thoughts and manic depression.

To answer both Aron and Tangent, I must say that you are both right. Having a DNA marker for a particular trait only increases the risk that you will develop this trait, but doesn't necessarily mean that you will. This is the same old debate of nature versus nurture: how much or our traits is inherited and how much is acquired. Difficult question!

suicide is about as genetic as liking carrots.

Said By free::zombie

suicide is about as genetic as liking carrots.

I know that this is meant as a joke and that you apparently refute any genetic link with certain behaviours, but you'd be surprised at how many seemingly acquired traits have a genetic origin. Liking carrots -- although not having been investigated from a genetic perspective -- has most probably an origin somewhere in our genes.

I didn't mean to say that they have no connection to genes, but I believe both have a similarly tiny connection (carrots are random):

What food you like is largely dependant on what you're used to - it's basically a matter of education and culture. Some British love marmite while the rest of the word hates it. These people usually first ate it as wee kids.

Suicide - it's also a matter of education above all that connected to the culture one lives in. To commit suicide, one has to know or believe it to be a sensible response to a given situation. Suicide rates are a lot higher in the Western world than in India (citation needed ;-)) due to religion: Christianity conveys the idea of an afterlife, a paradise after death. This is somewhere you can flee when you've had enough. In Hinduism, on the other hand, you'd just be born into the same situation again anyway, so what's the point ? If your life has been bad so far, how good are chances that you get reborn in a better situation due to higher Karma ? And IF you have a higher Karma, do you want to risk that suicide might lower it, or that it might be lowered by the fact that you failed to help people in your present life ?

Of course, our genes aren't responsible for everything and the impact of culture and upbringing is considerable. What the study identified was simply a higher risk to develop a suicidal behaviour in some individuals harbouring the DNA markers. It is probably true that this risk would be lower in Indian individuals due to the cultural difference that you very nicely highlighted.

There's also a lot of research about Bipolar Disorder that seems to indicate having the genetic predisposition doesn't determine whether you will actually have the disease. There's a lot of evidence that experiencing some sort of trauma (the psychological definition of this word is extremely variable) or repeated trauma(s) can trigger the onset of Bipolar. It's lumped into a bunch of theories called the Kindling Effect.

The important part of this is one day hopefuly doctors will be able to determine who is at risk of suicidal thoughts and be able to better help them. It's a lot like addiction. Anyone can become an addict, just some have a biological factor that puts them at greater risk.

I got interested in the article I referred to essentially because this was the first time -- to my knowledge -- that a genetic link was shown to exist in Bipolar Disorder. Obviously, genetics are only a basis and there are many more environmental factors that can trigger this condition. As happy2bg33k very rightly noted, traumas of all sorts can cause the disease to appear in subjects who may have some kind of predisposition.

The more we understand such diseases, both at the molecular and physiological level, the closer we'll get to finding really effective treatments.

Everyone has the right to commit suicide.

Said By free::zombie

Everyone has the right to commit suicide.

That's not really in dispute in this thread, is it? But if you're considering suicide based on a tremendous depression then you're thinking isn't as clear as if you were not depressed. Everyone should be able to make the s decision that they would make while in their best space possible. Finding genetic markers, explanations, whatever can allow people to recognize they may expereince a disease process they wouldn't elsewise be on the lookout for.

It's just that I'm not sure to what extent suicide can be treated as a disease. Depression capable of causing suicide is another matter; suicide is a concious decision which certain diseases could alter.

We are discussing depression-induced suicide here. There are many other reasons to envisage ending one's life, but I'd like to remind you all that we're focussing on depressive disorders in this thread. Thanks!

well I believe that mental illnesses are hereditary, my friends mom has Bipolar disorder, and my friend has it too. but in some cases it may skip a generation, my grandma has OCD, my mom doesn't, but I do... see what I mean? so the mental illness that are passed on may affect the choice of someone wanting to commit suicide or not it just depends on how much of the mental illness was passed to them.