Family history of suicide in affective disorder patients

In a consecutive series of 137 affective disorder patients with a family history of suicide, bipolar disorder formed the biggest group. Of the 137 patients, 61 (44.5%) had made a total of 117 attempts at suicide. The patients who had attempted suicide, compared with those who had not, had a significantly earlier age of onset and longer duration of illness, and more of them were unmarried.