title: Suicidal ideation and suicide attempts: comorbidity with depression, anxiety disorders, and substance abuse disorder.
abstract: The effect of comorbidity on rates of suicidal ideation and suicide attempts from an adult general population of former West Germany is investigated. The assessment instrument is a modified German version of the Diagnostic Interview Schedule (DIS), a fully standardized interview for the assessment of selected DSM-III lifetime diagnoses as well as suicidal ideation and suicide attempts. Of the general population 4.1% (2.2% male and 4.1% female) made suicide attempts during their lifetime. Only 2 of 18 people who attempted suicide did not meet criteria for a DSM-III-R diagnosis. Cases with pure major depression did not have an odds ratio for suicide attempts significantly higher than subjects with no DSM-III diagnosis. However, cases with both a major depression and a lifetime-anxiety-disorder diagnosis showed significantly elevated odds ratios. Therefore, it is suggested that comorbidity of anxiety and depression, and not depression itself, seems to be a risk factor for suicide attempts.
authors.affiliation: Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry, Clinical Institute, Munich, Germany.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Bronisch
authors.forename: H U
authors.initials: HU
authors.lastname: Wittchen
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001008:Anxiety Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology; D015331:Cohort Studies; D015897:Comorbidity; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D005858:Germany / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016584:Panic Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology; D010552:Personality Assessment; D010698:Phobic Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology; D013405:Suicide / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D013406:Suicide, Attempted / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*