Comorbid personality disorder predicts suicide after major depression: a 10-year follow-up

• Published in: Acta psychiatrica Scandinavica Vol. 107; no. 6; pp. 436 - 440
• Main Authors: HANSEN, P. E. B, WANG, A. G, STAGE, K. B, KRAGH-SORENSEN, P
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford Blackwell 01.06.2003
• Subjects: Adult; Adult and adolescent clinical studies; Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Biological and medical sciences; Comorbidity; Depression; Depressive Disorder - complications; Depressive Disorder - psychology; Female; Follow-Up Studies; Humans; Male; Medical sciences; Middle Aged; Mood disorders; Personality Disorders - psychology; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychopathology. Psychiatry; Risk Factors; Suicide; Suicide - psychology; Denmark; Europe; Mood disorder; Social environment; Human; Melancholia; Multicenter study; Mental health; Depression; Suicide; Personality disorder; Concomitant disease; Follow up study; Risk factor; Diagnosis; Predictive factor; Subtype; Comparative study; Public health
• ISSN: 0001-690X; 1600-0447
• DOI: 10.1034/j.1600-0447.2003.02048.x

To identify psychopathological predictors for suicide in a population of major depressed Diagnostic Statistical Manual-III (DSM-III) in-patients. A total of 210 previous participants in multicentre antidepressant drug trials, carried out in a randomized double-blind design, were followed prospectively through a maximum of 10 years. Patients with a drug or alcohol abuse were excluded. The association between suicide and the pretreatment psychopathological profile was analysed using survival statistics. The suicide rate for non-melancholic depressed patients was significantly higher than for melancholic depressed patients. Comorbid personality disorder was independently associated with an increased suicide rate [relative hazard 3.41(CI: 1.15-10.10)]. The study indicates that the non-melancholic aspect of depression, and especially comorbid personality disorder, is associated with an increased suicidal vulnerability.