Suicide in association with psychiatric hospitalisation

A review of 46 subjects who suicided after having contact with a psychiatric hospital is presented. There were 33 men and 11 women, both with a mean age of 37 years. In comparison with a control group, those who suicided had a greater number of hospital admissions, a greater length of hospitalisation, were more often unemployed, had a history of more previous suicide attempts, more often received the diagnosis of schizophrenia or manic depressive illness (depressed phase), were more often overly depressed at their last contact, and were more often prescribed neuroleptic medications. Although these differences emerged, suicide is an infrequent event, and these factors lack specificity in prediction. The important association of psychiatric illness with subsequent suicide is noted.