ctors associated with depression. Any individual dealing with overwhelming amounts of stress can experience depression. However, it is when a person stays depressed for extended periods of time, that the likelihood of having suicidal urges increases (Williams, 1997).Similar to that of depressed individuals, Alcoholics also carry a fifteen- percent lifetime risk of suicide. Alcohol dependence can be expressed in one of three ways. By consuming alcohol excessively on a daily basis. Second, by consuming excessive amounts of alcohol on a regular weekend basis. Third, by excessively consuming alcohol on binges lasting weeks or months. With alcoholics in mind, men are six times more likely to commit suicide than women are (Williams, 1997).One percent of the population suffers from schizophrenia at one time or another. Schizophrenia involves a range of symptoms including delusions, disorder in the form of thought, disorders of perception, or a change in moods. Consequently, these individuals often have a difficult time associating with other people in society. Studies have been proven that up to fifteen percent of the population of schizophrenics will commit suicide. In addition, as in the case of alcoholics, men are more prone to suicide than women (Williams, 1997) The very field of sociology was in part founded on the discovery that suicide rates are just as much a sociological phenomenon as they are psychological. Around the turn of the century, French sociologist Emile Durkeim found that single people were more likely to be victims than married individuals, Protestants more likely than Catholics, urban residents more likely than rural residents. Arguing that suicide was related to the nature of bonds between self and society, Durkheim argued that either excessive or deficient levels of integration and regulation lead to four ideal types of suicide (Spalding & Simpson, 1951).The four ideal types of suicide consist of egoistic,...
