The social inability of males to seek help when depressed was one of the main reasons why male suicide was considerably more prevalent than female suicide, Dr Lanny Berman, of the American Association of Suicidology, told the conference.
The rate of suicides among under-25s provided perhaps the most compelling reason for suicide prevention efforts, one of which should be education programmes on the dangers of alcohol. In the US, suicide is the most common form of death among youths after homicides and traffic accidents. One of the better methods of prevention was "a model based around early detection".
Alcohol abuse, said Dr Berman, was an issue in Ireland. Depressed, suicidal adolescents thought differently to non-depressed ones. They had weaker problem-solving skills, had an absolutist type of thinking and a pervasive sense of hopelessness. "Unless you do something over generations to train people to think differently about alcohol, you are always going to have a sub-population who are going to be depressed, and when drunk do dangerous things," he said.
Prof Alan Apter, of the Sackler School of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, said several personality characteristics were important for both fatal and non-fatal suicidal tendencies, which could explain why some forms of suicidal behaviour appeared to have a genetic influence. One cluster of traits centred on impulsive aggression, where individuals were highly sensitive to minor life events, causing them to become anxious, angry, and then depressed. A second cluster of traits revolved around narcissism and perfectionism. Depression was related to self-criticism and an inability to tolerate failure or imperfection. Many of these individuals seemed to be quite successful in their lives.
A third group of suicidal individuals was characterised by hopelessness, helplessness and a feeling of being overwhelmed by their psychiatric illness.