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Table 2. The associations between suicide and other diseases [5,6]
Worldwide; total of 15,629 cases UK; total of 4,859 cases
Mood disorders 35% Mood disorders 42%
Substance disorders 22% Schizophrenia 20%
Personality disorders 12% Personality disorders 11%
Schizophrenia 11% Alcohol dependence 9%
Anxiety disorders 6% Drug dependence 4%
Anxiety disorders 3%
Other disorders 14% Other disorders 11%
environment are also identical to factors behind mood disorders, including marriage problems and the loss
of jobs or family members.
Genetic and epigenetic factors
As there have yet to be any conclusive outcome on the pathogenesis of suicide, high-quality biomedical
studies (genetic, molecular and cerebral imaging) are currently utilized for suicide prediction, prevention
and therapeutics [1,18-26] . It therefore supported the previous, hypothetical link between suicide and mental
health problems through genetic and molecular analysis. As a result, more information associated with the
diagnosis of mental diseases can be used for suicide risk prediction, prevention and treatment.
Mental illness pathology and evolution of diagnostics from history
Mood disorders are an old and serious type of disease. In an ancient discovery, it was first noticed and
described by ancient Greek physicians more than 2000 years ago (Hippocrates, 460-377 BC) . As a main
[8,9]
symptom of mental disorder, suicide has a high mortality rate throughout the world. During Hippocrates’
time, he found a symptom of “melancholia”, known today as “depression”, and associated the disease with
human “brain dysfunction”. A thousand years have passed and these statements have not been seriously
challenged. We believe that this observation is still the core of future scientific and medical investigations.
The quest for a relationship between suicide and mental illness has lasted from ancient times to the modern
era. Despite the long history of suicide and mental illness studies, diagnostics are especially limited - act
and symptoms (suicide attempts and repeats) and is a current area of research emphasis [1,18-26] . Human
suicides were previously treated and controlled with relevant chemical drugs, such as antidepressants [26-31] .
However, these drug therapies work like a double-edged sword that has both strengths and weaknesses. To
overcome this setback, new therapeutics must be made.
CURRENT ACHIEVEMENTS IN DIAGNOSTICS AND TREATMENT
Current routine in neuropsychiatric diagnostics
Formally, diagnostic guidelines have been established and widely applied worldwide. Detailed diagnostic
information can be found in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) from DSM-I
to DSM-V of mental problems and the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HAM-D) of suicide risk.
Progress in genetic and molecular technology for diagnosis
Psychiatric analysis is currently used as diagnostic means by clinicians and psychiatrists. Medications
are prescribed after analyzing the patient’s psychiatric condition (different types of psychiatric illness
scoring systems for depressive or manic symptoms) rather than the patient’s genetic predisposition such as
pharmacogenetics (PG), genomic sequencing, bioinformatic profiling or brain image/visual comparisons.
They analyze patients through disease symptoms (suicide episodes) that mask the most important parts
of disease origination and progress (genetic/molecular-based causalities) in a series of pathogenesis
stages or suicide-induced mortality. Over the long history of suicide and mental illness studies, quick and
proper diagnosis is key. More recently, the morphological or visual scan of human brains of patients at