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Depression, delusions, and suicide.

S P Roose·A H Glassman·B T Walsh·S Woodring·J Vital-Herne
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Abstract

A retrospective analysis of all the suicides at the New York State Psychiatric Institute over a 25-year period was carried out. The authors retrospectively assigned diagnoses according to Research Diagnostic Criteria and DSM-III and found that among the patients who committed suicide there were 14 with unipolar endogenous depression. Of those 14 patients, 10 were considered delusional or probably delusional. In comparison, a control group of similarly diagnosed depressed patients taken from the same institution over the same time period included far fewer delusional depressions. Thus, there was a significant association between delusions and suicide: A delusionally depressed patient was five times more likely to commit suicide than a nondelusional one.

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DelusionsDepressive DisorderFemaleHospitalizationHumansMaleMiddle AgedNew YorkRiskSex FactorsSuicideJournal ArticleResearch Support, Non-U.S. Gov'tResearch Support, U.S. Gov't, P.H.S.

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S P Roose, A H Glassman, B T Walsh, S Woodring, J Vital-Herne. 1983. Depression, delusions, and suicide.. https://doi.org/10.1176/ajp.140.9.1159

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