[Suicide of young adults: psychiatric and psychosocial comorbidity]

This paper is concerned with a specific population of young adults who were admitted to the Patrick Dewaere Center, a crisis unit dedicated to suicidal young adults aged 15 to 35. We analysed data from a group of 885 patients hospitalized from July 1996 to November 2003. The psychiatric and psychosocial comorbidity of these young suicidal adults was outlined from data contained in the "Minimum Psychiatric Summary" (MPS). Several observations were made: There was a high prevalence of adaptation disorders (67.3%) contrasting with a rather low proportion of major depressive disorders. There was also a very high prevalence of personality disorders 80%), particularly, histrionical or borderline personality disorders. Diffuse, atypical somatic complaints, mainly related to sleep and appetite, that often failed to yield a precise medical diagnosis, were most frequent. A close relationship between suicide and psychosocial problems was apparent and attested the importance of the quality of social links. The value of short hospitalization among this generally active population was evidenced.