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Is suicide hereditary?
(CNN) UPDATED 2009-03-24
The death of Nicholas Hughes, the son of famous poet Sylvia Plath, has brought back long-asked questions about the link between suicide and heredity. Plath committed suicide in 1963, when her son was only a year old. But this week it was announced that Hughes, a marine biologist, also took his own life at age 47. Statistics show that a first-degree relative--a parent, sibling, or child--of a person who has committed suicide is four to six times more likely to attempt or complete a suicide. And a study of twins suggests that suicidal behavior is between 30 and 50 percent due to heritable factors. But other experts say "genetics is not destiny," and that suicide by a relative does not mean a person will die at his or own hands.
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