---
title: "Psych News Alert: Stressors, Genes, and Mental Illnesses All Contribute to Suicidal Behavior"
description: Carlos E. Santa Maria/Shutterstock Suicides increased in nine European countries after the start of the global economic crisis, a study repo...
---

[Psych News Alert ](https://alert.psychnews.org)

# [Psych News Alert: Stressors, Genes, and Mental Illnesses All Contribute to Suicidal Behavior](https://alert.psychnews.org/2011/07/stressors-genes-and-mental-illnesses.html)

 Written by [Psychiatric News Alert](https://alert.psychnews.org/author/psychiatric-news-alert) | 7/18/11 4:00 AM

| <https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhw-hlXB09aUSUrsJJT8KoiFJNov3LaI9E9Zvn2d7nm-uk2IgpzrR3FbM399wTRVaGFeyioy7Q8ii7nyiTfYkeOD6IC1zdwwXSTFVSUD7nPvIpPpFxX6MrwFgu3sFYh1qVqC3Wq1pAZ0OZu/s1600/stressed+man_21422407.jpg> |
| --- |
| Carlos E. Santa Maria/Shutterstock |

Suicides increased in nine European countries after the start of the global economic crisis, a study reported in the July 9 *The Lancet *indicated. This researchers suggested that the crisis was a major causative factor in the suicides.

But it often takes not just a stressor, such as an economic crisis, but also mental illness to trigger suicidal behavior, scientists have found. Indeed, it looks as if a large percentage of suicide attempts--60 percent--can be attributed to four mental disorders--major depression, borderline personality disorder, nicotine dependence, and postraumatic stress disorder, researchers recently reported. For more information on this study, see *Psychiatric News *at [http://pn.psychiatryonline.org/content/46/3/16.2.full](http://pn.psychiatryonline.org/content/46/3/16.2.full) . And researchers are finding more and more evidence that genes contribute to suicidal behavior as well. For more information on this topic, see *Psychiatric News *at [http://pn.psychiatryonline.org/content/46/10/20.2.full](http://pn.psychiatryonline.org/content/46/10/20.2.full)

[View full post](https://alert.psychnews.org/2011/07/stressors-genes-and-mental-illnesses.html)

```json
{
  "@context" : "http://schema.org",
  "@type" : "BlogPosting",
  "author" : {
    "@type" : "Person",
    "name" : "Psychiatric News Alert"
  },
  "dateModified" : "2025-06-24T19:32:48.339Z",
  "datePublished" : "2011-07-18T04:00:00Z",
  "headline" : "Stressors, Genes, and Mental Illnesses All Contribute to Suicidal Behavior",
  "image" : {
    "@type" : "ImageObject",
    "height" : 332,
    "url" : "https://46880868.fs1.hubspotusercontent-na1.net/hubfs/46880868/Imported_Blog_Media/stressed%20man_21422407-2.jpg",
    "width" : 500
  },
  "mainEntityOfPage" : "https://alert.psychnews.org/2011/07/stressors-genes-and-mental-illnesses.html",
  "publisher" : {
    "@type" : "Organization",
    "logo" : {
      "@type" : "ImageObject",
      "height" : 60,
      "url" : "/hs/hsstatic/content_shared_assets/static-1.4092/img/default-amp-logo.png",
      "width" : 60
    },
    "name" : "Psych News Alert"
  }
}
```