title: Alcohol-related suicides in victims with a history of hospital-treated depression.
abstract: Victims of suicides are frequently known to have suffered from depression and alcohol-related disorders, but whether these disorders exert different impacts on the period of survival following last hospitalizations have remained unknown. We surveyed 1,585 suicide victims from northern Finland and assigned them to one of three groups, based on lifetime history of depression, alcohol-related disorders, and both together. We then compared survival times in the three groups. Survival times in depressed alcoholic and non-alcoholic males were significantly shorter than those of males with alcohol-related disorders alone. Depressed but non-alcoholic suicide victims had more commonly used violent methods, had less often been under the influence of alcohol, and had had more psychotic disorders than the rest. It is apparently important in clinical practice to recognize the increased risk of suicide soon after hospital discharge not only in depressed patients, but also in those with a history of both depression and alcohol-related disorders.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Oulu University Hospital, PO Box 26, FIN-90029 OYS, Finland. helina.hakko@oulu.fi
authors.forename: Helinä
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Hakko
authors.forename: Petri
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Koponen
authors.forename: Kaisa
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Viilo
authors.forename: Terttu
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Särkioja
authors.forename: V Benno
authors.initials: VB
authors.lastname: Meyer-Rochow
authors.forename: Pirkko
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Räsänen
authors.forename: Markku
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Timonen
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D019973:Alcohol-Related Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000401:mortality*; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000401:mortality* / Q000628:therapy; D017831:Diagnosis, Dual (Psychiatry); D005260:Female; D005387:Finland / Q000453:epidemiology; D006760:Hospitalization; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012307:Risk Factors; D013405:Suicide / Q000639:trends; D013997:Time Factors