On suicided, why people do it..

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'Suicide is an enigmatic and disconcerting phenomenon' - The Stanford Philosophy Encyclopedia. In the end we had the pieces of the puzzle, but no matter how we put them together, gaps remained, oddly shaped emptinesses mapped by what surrounded them, like countries we couldn't name. - Jeffrey Eugenides, The Virgin Suicides. The gift of having consciousness, mind and memory and of having life in whatever form is unceasingly taken for granted. So much so that many people will consider and endeavor to attempt suicide. At this low ebb, the thought that life is a gift becomes extinct from the mind, and thoughts of ending it all seem most obviously dominant. Whether it be a state of depression, jealousy, regret, humiliation or whatever else life has led us to feel, the resulting turmoil is enough reason to take our own lives. That last step. The need to build up the 'bravery' to end it. The day when you say, 'You know what? I am going to kill myself'. What causes that day? Why is there even a choice? Yes, we have evolved to have a complex set of characteristics, especially where we can choose to do anything on the basis of actions and activities going on around us. We can grow up in a culture where human sacrifice might be seen as a good thing. We can grow to believe that life is just a prolonged death-row, no point waiting until death. Why should we have this ability to want to kill ourselves when every other animal on the planet fears death? Is it not humanity's purpose partly to ensure the species survival? Should we not have evolved to want to live life for as long as possible? What are the factors that, throughout human existence have caused us to be capable of yearning our own death? Religion? Civilization? War? What could we have witnessed through the ages that make us 'brave' enough to kill ourselves? The answers i am looking for are not about the initial causes, such as depression, etc. I would really like to know why we have the choice. Perhaps we have evolved a stage too much. Or perhaps suicide is perfectly rational in terms of living, just another way to die. Any thoughts?