Any single suicide is the result of psychopathology, but the relatively consistent appearance of psychopathological suicidality seems to be tied to social constructs. In each society there is a different context for the act, but it may be the case that a certain percentage of the population in every society kill themselves. The values and customs of a society determine which causes will lead to the act in which place. People who believe that they are operating on the basis of unique trauma are often, in fact, simply manifesting a tendency in their society that drives people to death.

— Andrew Solomon, The Noonday Demon