Neurobiological Basis of Violence and Suicide in Alcohol/Substance Use Disorders

Abstract

Both the risk of suicidal and violent behaviours increases in alcohol and substance use disorders. Besides, it's proposed that alcohol and substance use disorders significantly contribute to the increasing prevalence of suicide and violence worldwide. For these reasons, it is thought that the spiral of problems consisting of the concepts of suicide, violence, and addiction awaits a solution on a global scale. The discovery of the underlying neurobiological mechanisms is required to deal with these problems. Previous research has revealed the importance of neurobiological mechanisms in understanding suicidal, violent, and addictive behaviours. Especially recent studies have shown some evidence that these three conditions have some related genetic, epigenetic, and neurobiological bases. Therefore, besides the current neurobiological research on alcohol and substance use disorders, scientific literature related to suicidal and violent behaviours will be presented in this review altogether.

Keywords

• substance-related disorders
• alcoholism
• violence
• suicide
• psychiatry