Can air pollution lead to suicide? According to a Utah study, it can be a risk factor.
A team of researchers has discovered a correlation between air pollution and suicide--that is, suicide rates seem to be higher at a time when the pollution if the air is also at its worst.
The team came from University of Utah led by Amanda Bakian, an epidemiologist. They worked closely with the state's health office of the medical examiner especially for the data. As to why they have chosen Utah, it's because suicide is currently one of its highest causes of the death.
They analysed suicide records of more than 1,500 from the years 2000 to 2010. They excluded cases of suicide attempts since there are major differences between these and complete suicides. For example, those who completed suicides were more likely to have died from guns.
These data were then compared to the air pollution levels of the state around the same period. They had included instances where there was presence of sulfur dioxides, different kinds of particulates, and nitrogen dioxide.
Upon comparison, they realized that the risk of suicides went up at least 2 days after the air pollution reached very its very high levels.
Many people may not be able to fully grasp the relationship between suicide risk and air pollution, but suicide itself is a very complex issue. Plenty of studies have already suggested that this has something to do with mental disorders, although being diagnosed with a mental disease doesn't immediately mean that the person is already vulnerable to suicide.
While many factors can increase the risk of suicide, there's also mounting evidence that inflammation may be a potential trigger. Inflammation happens when the body's immune system goes into an overdrive due to the presence of a significant level of threats. These threats may be in the form of air particulates, which can be so small they can immediately find their way to the thoracic passageways.