By Rollin Grams, Bible and Mission.
(Editor’s note: This is part of a series by the author on assisted suicide)
Mental disorders account for many suicides. In this brief essay, the relationship between mental disorders and suicide will be explored in accordance with the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, or DSM-5. The evidence provides a warning that persons seeking suicide to end their misery are persons who need care, perhaps professional care. Offering them suicide instead, even offering suicide as though it is a caring and kind solution, is in truth a failure to show compassion and to provide care.
For example, cases of assisted suicide in the Netherlands, assisted suicide is permissive. People without physical disorders and merely mental anguish may receive assistance in suicide. This permissiveness has led to an increase in suicides. Among persons suffering from psychological distress, suicide increased by 60% between 2023 and 2024.[1] In 2020, 88 cases of assisted suicide for psychological reasons were reported. The increase is also notable among younger people. In 2024, 219 cases were reported. In 2020, 8 of these cases were people under 30; in 2024, 30 people were.[2]
Bipolar disorders are characterized by manic and depressive episodes. Type I involves at least one major manic episode, whereas Type II involves at least one major depressive episode and at least one hypomanic (not fully manic) episode. According to the DSM-5, ‘The lifetime risk of suicide in individuals with bipolar disorder is estimated to be at least 15 times that of the general population. In fact, bipolar disorder may account for one-quarter of all completed suicides.’[3] In bipolar II disorder, impulsivity is another characteristic adding to the risk of suicide,[4] and 1/3 of these persons struggle with suicidal thoughts and attempts throughout their lives.[5]