Suicide related to human immunodeficiency virus infection in Stockholm

During a 5-year period (July 1, 1985 to June 30, 1990), a systematic investigation of medicolegal autopsy cases with regard to the occurrence of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection was carried out at the Department of Forensic Medicine in Stockholm, Sweden. Cases where a positive result was obtained from enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and Western blotting were counted as HIV-positive (85 instances among 16,938 deaths, or 0.50%). Of these deaths, 21 (25%) were suicides. The number and proportion of suicides among HIV-positive homo- and bisexual males increased during the study period but remained unchanged for infected intravenous drug addicts. This increase of suicides among homo- and bisexual males could be related to the duration of the infection and to the manifestation of acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) symptoms. Only 1 of the 21 suicides occurred in a hospital; 17 were committed in the homes of the deceased and 3 outdoors. Medicinal drug overdosage was the dominant choice of suicide method. Six of 12 homo- and bisexual males who committed suicide were of non-Swedish origin, i.e. immigrants, likely to have a less stable social network and thereby probably receiving less psychosocial support than the native population.