Is There Any Gene Associated With One’s Tendency to Commit Suicide?

One of my students recently asked me about the so-called “suicide gene.” Some researchers claim they identified a cluster of genes, 22 of them supposedly, linked to suicidal tendencies. I am no geneticist and cannot say for sure whether or not such a gene exists. However, what I know is that there is definitely a suicidal predisposition in some people, and also in some cultures, and even in certain historical periods. It is evident, for example, in Japan, where culturally, suicide has been romanticized or ritualized at times. In other nations, too, the suicidal impulse has surfaced throughout history. So yes, something inside us can give us an inclination toward that despair.

But the more beneficial question is whether there is anything that can overcome that predisposition. What can we hold onto when life feels unbearable, when everything seems void and meaningless?

It is the very meaning of life itself.

We should not distract ourselves, suppress, or escape from that question. Through the discovery of life’s meaning, we can lift ourselves up out of that inner void. Beyond providing mere relief, it grants us a new life, even before this one ends. When we start to realize life’s deeper purpose, we do not need to imagine some afterlife to find hope. Our “future world” can already unfold before us here and now. Everything comes down to how we realize our existence.

So, what is the meaning of life?

It is to transform our inner nature, to shift from receiving to giving, from self-absorption to connection, from hatred to love, from rejection to closeness. In other words, the meaning of life requires us to undergo a significant perceptual change. When we begin to live for others, to fulfill others instead of ourselves, we start to experience a completely different reality, which is a higher and opposite world, and which operates by completely different, spiritual laws.

We cannot be disappointed in that state because the act of giving, when it is real and selfless, is itself the fulfillment. We do not chase satisfaction, but satisfaction flows through us as we become its source.

While it sounds like a distant dream, it is not. It is where humanity is headed, slowly, painfully, but inevitably. We will reach a time of our transformation, when a harmonious and peaceful human connection becomes our natural way of life.

Then, the question of suicide, emptiness, and despair, will no longer even arise, because life itself will be full of meaning and happiness.

Based on KabTV’s “News with Dr. Michael Laitman” with Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman on June 3, 2025. Written/edited by students of Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman.

Posted on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn Newsletter, Medium, Twitter X, YouTube, Quora