Risk factors of suicide with reference to the theory of social integration by Emile Durkheim

AIM: The aim of the paper was to: (1) present economic, socio-demographic and other indicators related to suicide, useful from the perspective of social integration theory, and (2) identify new indicators of special importance to contemporary Poland. METHOD: A narrative literature review on the sociological approach to suicide was undertaken by searching MEDLINE/PubMed, PsycINFO, Google Scholar databases using the following key words: suicide, suicide risk factors, Durkheim's theory of suicide, integration and disintegration of society, sociodemographic factors, economic factors, religion, and the time descriptors: 2000-2017. RESULTS: Suicide risk was analyzed in relation to: family integration (including the rates of divorce, marriage, fertility, and women's participation in the labour market); economy (including the unemployment rate, gross domestic product per capita, Gini social inequality index, and social welfare indicators); social issues (including the indicators of the healthcare system quality, the rates of alcohol consumption per capita and migration); religion (including the parameters of conventional religiosity, Gallup index, and percentage of religious books). The issues relevant for Poland were addressed while discussing Balanced Development Index in economic aspect, and dominicantes and communicantes rates in religious aspect. CONCLUSIONS: This literature review may be useful in the assessment of suicide risk when designing suicide prevention programs and for mental health clinicians in their daily practice.