David Lester

About the author: David Lester is a professor of psychology at Richard Stockton College of New Jersey. He has written numerous articles and books about teen suicide, including The Cruelest Death: The Enigma of Adolescent Suicide and Making Sense of Suicide: An In-Depth Look at Why People Kill Themselves.

The consumption of alcohol and/or drugs is frequently a contributing factor to suicide. Alcohol and drugs increase feelings of depression and isolation, ease fears of death, and reduce inhibitions about suicide. Furthermore, alcohol and drugs are frequently used as a means of committing suicide.

No cause-and-effect relationship has been established between suicide and the use of alcohol and/or drugs, but the consumption of these agents is often a contributing factor to suicide for several reasons. The use of alcohol...