This book reviews the recent research into biological aspects of suicide behavior and outlines each of the varied, recent approaches to prevent suicide. Suicidal behavior, perhaps, is the most complex behavior that combines biological, social, and psychological factors. A new frontier and new opportunities are opening with the technologies of data acquisition and data analysis. Personalized models based on digital phenotype could provide promising strategies for preventing suicide.

This book addresses the phenomenology, demographics, and neurobehavioral aspects of suicidal behavior and its risk factors, underscoring common neurobehavioral threads among different approaches which may underlie such extreme behavior. It additionally provides an overview of new approaches, such as imaging techniques to identify at-risk individuals or in response to drug treatment associated with suicidal behavior, neurodevelopmental approaches, genetic and epigenetic linkages to suicidal behavior, animal models of specific risk factors, as well as potential biomarkers being employed to help assess risk.

Contrary to common belief, suicide is preventable and insights from neuroscientific research show how.

With recent studies using genetic, epigenetic, and other molecular and neurochemical approaches, a new era has begun in understanding pathophysiology of suicide. Emerging evidence suggests that neurobiological factors are not only critical in providing potential risk factors but also provide a promising approach to develop more effective treatment and prevention strategies. The Neurobiological Basis of Suicide discusses the most recent findings in suicide neurobiology. Psychological, psychosocial, and cultural factors are important in determining the risk factors for suicide; however, they offer weak prediction and can be of little clinical use. Interestingly, cognitive characteristics are different among depressed suicidal and depressed nonsuicidal subjects, and could be involved in the development of suicidal behavior. The characterization of the neurobiological basis of suicide is in delineating the risk factors associated with suicide. The Neurobiological Basis of Suicide focuses on how and why these neurobiological factors are crucial in the pathogenic mechanisms of suicidal behavior and how these findings can be transformed into potential therapeutic applications.

Suicide and Self-Damaging Behavior: A Sociobiological Perspective reviews the status of suicide and other exceptions to the prevailing regularities of behavior. This book discusses the apparent anomaly of self-destructive behavior; current incidence of suicide and self-injury; self-destructiveness in other species; and biological fitness and social ecology of suicide. The pro-suicidal gene expression and natural selection; death concept; breakdown of other life-preserving factors with coping failure; and selection processes and altruism are also elaborated. This text likewise covers the chronic self-abuse, risk taking, and self-injurious or self-mutilative behavior. This publication is a good source for anthropologists, psychologists, sociologists, and social scientists concerned with self-destructive behavior.

This handbook examines research on youth suicide, analyzes recent data on suicide among adolescents, and addresses the subject matter as a serious public health concern. The book explores the research on youth suicide, examining its causes, new and innovative ways of determining suicide risk, and evidence-based intervention and prevention strategies. In addition, it focuses on specific under-studied populations, including adolescents belonging to ethnic, racial, and sexual minority groups, youth involved in the criminal justice system, and adolescents in foster care. The book discusses how culturally informed and targeted interventions can help to decrease suicide risk for these populations. Key areas of coverage include: Early childhood adversity, stress, and developmental pathways of suicide risk. The neurobiology of youth suicide. Suicide, self-harm, and the media. Assessment of youth suicidal behavior with explicit and implicit measures. Suicide-related risk among immigrant, ethnic, and racial minority youth. LGBTQ youth and suicide prevention. Psychosocial treatments for ethnoculturally diverse youth with suicidal thoughts and behaviors. Technology-enhanced interventions and youth suicide prevention. The Handbook of Youth Suicide Prevention is an essential resource for researchers, professors, graduate students as well as clinicians, therapists, and other professionals in developmental psychology, social work, public health, pediatrics, family studies, child and adolescent psychiatry, school and educational psychology, and all interrelated disciplines. Chapters 8, 9 and 16 are available open access under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License via link.springer.com.

This book updates knowledge about self-injurious behaviors for suicidal purposes concerning frequency, possibly biological, psychological, social, cultural, and political causes; that is, it approaches suicide from abroad non-reductive vision and considers the phenomenon's complexity. The source of information is the most recent scientific research —preferably systematic reviews and meta-analyses—given the wealth of data available on the subject of suicide. It includes novel topics such as non-suicidal self-injurious behaviors and suicidal behaviors in socially excluded groups due to ethnicity, sexual orientation, and immigrants. Likewise, it presents a comprehensive view of strategies for preventing suicidal behavior. Special attention was paid to the review and inclusion of research carried out in Colombia and other Latin American countries since studies published in Spanish are exceptionally considered in reviews in English. Each chapter is extensively referenced so that readers can delve into the details of each topic as they see fit. It is necessary to continue reviewing the evidence to reduce suicidal behaviors by implementing preventive programs in the most vulnerable social groups.