Lithium Suicide Prevention: A Brief Review and Reminder

Suicide is a major public health problem throughout the world, occurring in over 800,000 people annually. Mood disorders are a common psychopathology and are a signficiant risk factor for suicidality. Lithium pharmacotherapy has been shown to reduce symptoms of suicidal behavior, especially in long-term patient interventions. Reasons for this remain unclear. Lithium treatment for individuals with affective disorders appears underutilized. Use of lithium is thought to reduce risk for suicidality, even if mood stabilization is not achieved and serum concentration is lower than the conventionally accepted therapeutic blood level ranges. In this article, the authors review the currently available literature on lithium's effect on suicidality and provide discussion on proposed mechanisms of action. This brief report serves as an important reminder to clinicians to include lithium pharmocotherapy in their armamentarium for treatment of affective disorders, especially when symptoms of suicidality are present.