A psychiatric study of suicide among urban Swedish women.
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.
Asgård
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Department of Psychiatry, Karolinska Institute, Huddinge University Hospital, Sweden.
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002423:Cause of Death; D003142:Communication; D003431:Cross-Cultural Comparison; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008016:Life Change Events; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000523:psychology; D008875:Middle Aged; D012307:Risk Factors; D012737:Sex Factors; D013405:Suicide / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D013406:Suicide, Attempted / Q000523:psychology; D013548:Sweden; D014505:Urban Population