Social determinants of health: alternative explanatory proposal to the biomedical approach to suicidal behavior

Abstract

Suicidal behavior represents a serious public health problem. Suicidal deaths are estimated at 800,000 people each year. This is why its study has gained relevance to the extent that it is necessary to understand the phenomenon, its causes and theoretical positions that guide decision-making and the design of prevention strategies. However, the hegemonized explanation justifies the occurrence of the phenomenon from the interaction of multiple risk factors, on which various explanatory models with a biomedical-centric approach are based, which postulate suicidal behavior as a consequence of individual psychopathology. This essay develops a critique of the hegemonic biomedical theoretical position and highlights the benefits of studying the phenomenon from a social perspective, specifically from the World Health Organization's model of social determinants of health, without undermining the theoretical and empirical contributions of the biomedical approach, but highlighting its weaknesses and emphasizing the strengths of the social approach, which, without leaving aside individual factors, offers a more comprehensive view in understanding suicidal behavior.