Research Paper on Depression & Suicide: Research on the Role of Mental Health

Introduction

The research question is, "Does depression play any role in people's likelihood to commit or try to commit suicide?" Depression is a state of mental health disorder which is characterized by loss of interest in activities or a persistent depressed mood which causes significant impairment in the individual's daily life. The suicide rate, attempts, and self-harm are increasing in people with depression. Research has shown that most of those individuals who commit or attempts to commit suicide have an emotional or mental disorder, which is as a result of depression.

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This paper tries to explain more about the relationship between depression and suicide, causes of depression that can lead to committing suicide or attempting to commit suicide, secondary data collection methods their advantages and disadvantages, statistical tools as well as the timeline schedule for the whole research process. I hypothesize that depression and suicide go hand in hand. Depression is caused by a cycle of thoughts, feelings, and experiences that are associated with the cause of negative thoughts that include taking one's own life. When these thoughts get stronger, then the final thought makes an individual commit suicide.

Depression is caused by several factors which when they become chronic, they can make an individual to have a thought of committing or trying to commit suicide. Factors such as physical health problem that an individual has suffered from in a long duration of time, such as cancer can bring about the suicidal thoughts. Loss and grief due to loss of a loved one can also lead to depression, feelings of living without the loved one in grieving individuals can be chronic that makes one commit suicide.

Sampling Methodology

Sampling involves statistical selection of a predetermined number of individual from a large population. The methodology that is used for sampling a small group from a large population involves simple random sampling where each member in a population has an equal chance to be selected. A systemic sampling includes individuals being chosen at a specific interval from the sample population. Stratified sampling entails dividing the population into subgroups with similar characteristics. In this research progress report, data that is already available from previous health simple random sampling was used to obtain the required statistical information.

To answer the research question, "Does depression play any role in people's likelihood to commit or try to commit suicide?" I used secondary data collected by other researchers as the primary data collection method (Curtis & Allen, 2018). Data collected from different health care institutions that have researched people with depressions and their behaviors helped to understand the relationship between depression and suicidal attempts thoroughly. From the sample information, it can be noted that individuals who showed signs of depression had a higher chance of ending their lives due to different exposure they had from their previous life experiences.

Also, other relevant sources, such as publications year, number of a participant in the study, helps to give details of the sample type and sample age of the groups that took part in the survey. This information assists us to relate how depression affects people of different age groups and how each group tries to cope with depression effects. It also shows how each group needs special and different attention during treatment. Young people are more likely to commit suicide when faced with life challenges that cause depression among them as compared to the adult group.

Statistical Tools

The statistical tools that we are going to apply in our data analysis process include the measures of central tendency, which include the mean, median, and mode. These three parameters are used to produce the normal distribution or the Gaussian distribution which is a bell-shaped curve through which during any measurement, it is assumed that the values will always follow a Gaussian distribution having an equal number of measures below and above the mean value (Ali & Bhaskar,2016). The distribution shows that individuals who are suffering from depression end up committing suicide. Those who attempted death had an adverse life situation that increased the suicidal risk among them.

The other tools that we will use in this research are the parametric tests, which assume that the data are usually on a quantitative or numerical scale, having a normal distribution of the whole population. Parametric analysis can be defined as a hypothesis testing procedure which is generally based on the assumption that the data observed is distributed according to a popular form of distribution to some unknown parameter through which the researcher wants to infer to. The test shows that about 2% of the patients who have a long period of depression will end up committing suicide. Also, those who attempt suicide are three times likely to commit suicide again and end up taking their lives.

Data that is obtained from these statistical tools help to predict the likelihood of individuals with depression committing suicide. These tools show the probability of suicidal attempts among the patients when they are exposed to different conditions such as treatment for depression during the study time. These conditions affect the way the individual reacts. Those who receive treatment have a low risk of suicidal attempts as those who are not treated.

The statistical tools were used soundly because they facilitated the research in showing how depression among individuals results in attempts of suicide or committing suicide. The hypothesis employed suicide is highly caused by depression, and it forms the basis of the research project. Through the use of Gaussian parameter, a normal distribution curve is used, and it shows that relatively high number of attempts and suicide indices are caused by depression support my argument that depression results to suicide events.

Data Analysis

The statistical data was analyzed using Cox's proportional hazards models to assess the relationship between depression and the two outcomes that are associated with suicide and the attempts of suicide. Some patients were exposed to depression treatment using the antidepressant drugs while others were not for about 90 days. Robust standard errors were used to account for the patients clustering during the practice. The unadjusted analysis hazard ratio for the antidepressant group was calculated and adjusted in the analysis.

Wald test analysis was used to determine if there was any significant difference between the patients under treatment and those who were not under any medication. It tested for interaction between the age of the patients and their response to antidepressant drugs. It was done in the subgroup where they were divided by the age of (20-29, 30-39, 40-49, 50-59, and 60-69). Log minus log plots were used to assess the proportional hazards assumptions. Untreated patients differed from the treated in ways that can be difficult to account for in the analysis, such as not liking the medications or severe depression.

The data analysis summarizes that the study was done to determine whether depression can cause an individual to commit or attempt to commit suicide. Follow-up was done to the sample group was also done during the analysis. It was observed that in a particular baseline, the likelihood of the characteristics to change is less. A few variations also occurred among the patients who were exposed to medication. Analysis of suicide outcomes and attempts was also done. The risk of suicide and efforts of suicides was calculated accounting for the changing variables and adjusting hazard ratio. All eligible patients were also included in the analysis database.

Presentation of Visual Aid and Graphs

About 2/3 of individuals who commit suicide are depressed at a time when their death occurs. People with major depression have a higher risk of committing suicide. Untreated individuals who suffer from depression have a 20% chance of committing suicide compared to individuals who are treated who have 0.141% of committing suicide (Oliffe et al., 2016). Some of the social factors such as unemployment, divorce, and separation among couples suffer from depression that leads to suicidal thoughts or attempt of about 2.4times (Oliffe et al., 2016).

Most depressed individuals end up committing suicide by use of guns where they end up shooting themselves on the head or vital organs where they cannot survive (Kuhn & Flanagan,2017). Also, some hang themselves using ropes on trees, and in their houses, some do consume poison, some do jump off tall buildings, some drown themselves in swimming pools, deep rivers, oceans, and seas, while some can jump in front of moving a vehicle or of a moving car. Research shows that men are likely to commit suicide while women are likely to attempt to commit suicide when they are depressed (O life et al., 2016).

Recommendations and Projection

People suffering from depression should seek professional medical care. By doing so, they will be able to tackle any negative thought, behavior change, and attitude towards activities and improve their status. Proper care and medication can help one to become batter and erase all the feelings of wanting to commit suicide. Also, the government, through the health providers, should undertake to create awareness to the community by organizing for mass education about depressions and its effects. The teachings can be done through various media such as television, radio, and newspapers or even arrange for a medical camp for screening of depression.

If the proposed recommendations and others are implemented, then the projected number of suicide incidents of attempts of committing suicide will reduce by a significant value. When individuals who are suffering from depression due to various causes receive love and care and proper medication, the negative fades away with time, and the individual becomes normal again. Mass educations and medical camps help to educate people on causes, symptoms, and effects of depression (Oude Voshaar et al., 2016). Individuals who might be experiencing an early stage of grief can receive treatment and care before the condition escalates and becomes chronic.

Conclusion

In conclusion, depression has a high chance of making individual suffering from it to commit suicide or attempt to commit suicide. It is due to the past exposure that the individual has experience in their life. Proper depression treatment and care for individuals suffering from it, help to reduce these negative thought of wanting to commit suicide and make an individual again. Also, proper monitoring should be done for patients undergoing depression treatment to determine if they are responding well.

References

Ali, Z., & Bhaskar, S. B. (2016). Basic statistical tools in research and data analysis. Indian journal of anaesthesia, 60(9), 662. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5037948/

Curtis, K. R., & Allen, S. (2018). Target Market Identification and Data Collection Methods. Retrieved from https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2959&context=extension_curall

Oude Voshaar, R. C., van der Veen, D. C., Hunt, I., & Kapur, N. (2016). Suicide in latelife depression with and without comorbid anxiety disorders. International journal of geriatric psychiatry, 31(2), 146-152. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2940247/

Kuhn, C. M., & Flanagan, E. M. (2017). Self-care as a professional imperative: physician burnout, depression, and suicide. Canadian Journal of Anesthesia/Journal canadien d'anesthesie, 64(2), 158-168.

Oliffe, J. L., Ogrodniczuk, J. S., Gordon, S. J., Creighton, G., Kelly, M. T., Black, N., &...