Written By: Longjam Dineshwori | Updated : December 19, 2019 5:33 PM IST
Climate change can impact air quality, and vice versa. ©Shutterstock
Bad news for people residing in polluted areas, like Delhi. A new global study has warned that people living with air pollution have higher rates of suicide. The researchers pointed out that air pollution could be causing substantial harm to our mental health, leading to suicidal thoughts among people.
The findings, published in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives, also suggest strong link between toxic air and depression.
How air pollution leads to depression and suicide? The researchers say the finest particulates from dirty air can reach the brain through the bloodstream and the nose. The polluted air when inhaled can cause inflammation in the brain, damage nerve cells and cause changes in stress hormone production, which have been linked to poor mental health.
The research linked depression with air pollution particles smaller than 2.5 micrometres (equivalent to 0.0025 millimetres and known as PM2.5). It says people exposed to an increase of 10 micrograms per cubic metre ( g/m3) in the level of PM2.5 for a year or more had a 10% higher risk of getting depression.
The study suggested on reducing air pollution level to prevent people from becoming depressed.
Previous studies have also linked air pollution with high mortality in people with mental disorders and higher risk of depression in teenagers. Air pollution is also found to cause reduction in intelligence and dementia.
Suicide cases are rising around the world. But many a time, we fail to know the reason that led these people to commit suicide. What makes it is more disheartening for the victim's family member is that such incidents occur without any warning signs.
There are many factors which can influence a person to commit suicide.
Mental illnesses leading to suicidal thoughts include depression, eating disorders like bulimia and anorexia, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, and anxiety disorders.
Depression is the most common cause of suicide. Severe depression is characterised by great emotional pain and loss of hope, that influences the patient to end his/her own life.
Traumatic experiences such as childhood sexual abuse, rape, physical abuse, or war trauma, may also influence a person to kill self. This is because a person who has had a traumatic experience is more likely to suffer from depression that can lead to suicide.
Use of drugs and alcohol can make a person, who is feeling suicidal, more impulsive and thus influence him/her to kill self. Substance abuse could also create tension in the family or harm relationship with others, which could be other reasons for suicide. S
This is another major cause of suicide, especially among youth. A person may decide to commit to suicide in situations like losing a job, financial problems, academic failure, bullying, humiliation or ending a romantic relationship.
There have been many cases of suicide driven by chronic pain or illness. A person suffering from chronic pain or illness often experiences hopelessness and decide to kill self to end the suffering. People with chronic health conditions are also found to be more likely to have depression or anxiety. This in turn increases the risk of suicide.
Some health conditions associated with a higher risk of suicide include: cancer, HIV/AIDS, brain injury, asthma, heart disease, rheumatoid arthritis, etc.
Researchers have found that people suffering from chronic migraines or back pain are also more likely to attempt suicide.
Studies have also linked poor sleep to increased risk for suicide in older adults. In a study, researchers found that people with poorer sleep quality regardless of whether they had depression or other mental illness, had 1.2 times increased risk for suicide than people with better sleep quality.
Social isolation can lead to loneliness and other risk factors of suicide such as depression and alcohol or drug misuse. Health experts say loneliness and social isolation are twice as harmful to physical and mental health as obesity.
