Citation

Asgard U. Acta Psychiatr. Scand. 1990; 82(2): 115-124.

Affiliation

Department of Psychiatry, Karolinska Institute, Huddinge University Hospital, Sweden.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1990, John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

2239354

Abstract

A total of 104 suicides among women were investigated by means of a modified psychological autopsy, including interviews with survivors and a review of somatic and psychiatric records. Diagnosis according to Research Diagnostic Criteria (RDC) showed that 35% were suffering from a major depressive disorder during their final month and another 24% were also depressed; 12% were substance abusers and 14% had adjustment disorders. Two thirds had attempted suicide and another 23% had communicated suicidality in other ways. Slightly more than half of the women had been psychiatric inpatients and another 19% had at some time been outpatients. Fifty-seven percent had been psychiatric inpatients or outpatients during the final year of life. An increasing number of life events occurred during the final 6 months. In most cases the depressed women had been treated ineffectively with antidepressant drugs.

Language: en