title: Characteristics of suicide completers with a psychiatric diagnosis before death: a postmortem study of 98 cases.
abstract: The objective of this research was to classify the deaths of 98 victims of suicide in Tel Aviv, Israel between the years 2007 and 2010. This was done by examining background features and clinical characteristics among suicide completers with histories of a prior psychiatric hospitalization using logistic regression modeling. 34% of the sample (33/98) was given at least one psychiatric diagnosis upon discharge from a prior psychiatric hospitalization. Throughout their lifetime, those with psychiatric diagnoses were significantly more likely to have histories of mental health treatment (psychotherapy and psychotropic medication), psychopathology and suicidality among family members, prior suicide attempts and familial or emotional crisis as compared with those without a psychiatric diagnosis. During their last life phase, those with prior psychiatric diagnoses were also significantly more likely to have received psychotherapeutic treatment, expressed a lack of desire to live and presented with affective symptoms (e.g. depression, anxiety, adaptation difficulty and nervousness) as compared with those without such histories. Thus, focusing on high risk populations, such as those with psychiatric illnesses and deciphering the role of mental health treatment, familial predisposition, prior suicide attempt and sub-clinical symptoms in relation to suicide can inform future prevention practices.
authors.affiliation: Israeli Center for Disease Control (ICDC), Ministry of Health, Ramat Gan, Israel. Electronic address: shellybakst@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: Shelly
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Bakst
authors.affiliation: Israeli Center for Disease Control (ICDC), Ministry of Health, Ramat Gan, Israel.
authors.forename: Tali
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Braun
authors.affiliation: Israeli Center for Disease Control (ICDC), Ministry of Health, Ramat Gan, Israel.
authors.forename: Rachel
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Hirshberg
authors.affiliation: Israeli Center for Disease Control (ICDC), Ministry of Health, Ramat Gan, Israel.
authors.forename: Inbar
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Zucker
authors.affiliation: Israeli Center for Disease Control (ICDC), Ministry of Health, Ramat Gan, Israel; Department of Epidemiology, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel.
authors.forename: Tamar
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Shohat
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007557:Israel; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000523:psychology*; D008875:Middle Aged; D010351:Patient Discharge; D011613:Psychotherapy; D011619:Psychotropic Drugs / Q000627:therapeutic use; D013405:Suicide / Q000523:psychology*; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D011619:Psychotropic Drugs
keywords: Close-of-kin interview; Mental illness; Postmortem investigation; Psychological autopsy; Suicide risk factors