Abstract
The etiopathogenesis of suicide is the subject of investigation from the point of view of psychology, philosophy, sociology and medicine. Suicide is a particularly important aspect in the course and treatment of affective disorders. Selected statistical data was taken from the websites of the World Health Organization WHO and the Police. The authors reviewed the psychiatric literature on the neurobiological aspects of suicidal behavior. We included English original papers, reviews, and search of reference lists, without the time limits of publication. To better present the biological mechanisms involved in the control of suicidal behavior, studies based on both clinical data and animal models were taken into account. Animal models play an important role in explaining the mechanisms of stress response and the developmentof depressive symptoms, allowing to track of the interaction of genetic and environmental factors. Genetic research (twin studies, studies of candidate genes andgenomewide association studies GWAS), neurochemical(neurotransmitter metabolites, receptors, transportersand protein expression in peripheral blood), neuropsychological (impulsivity and decision making strategies), neuroimaging (structural and functional imaging studies) and psychopharmacological results for the biologicalbasis of suicide were described.