Suicide rates in the Lundby study: mental illness as a risk factor for suicide

In the present investigation we have used a longitudinal psychiatric-epidemiological study of 3,563 persons who, at a certain date 1947 or 1957, were registered in a geographically well-defined area in Sweden, "Lundby". This population has been observed and psychiatrically evaluated for 25 and 15 years, respectively. During the observation period 23 men and 5 women committed suicide. In the total Lundby cohort the age-standardized male suicide rate was 51 per 100,000 person years. The corresponding rate in men without a psychiatric diagnosis was 8.3, among men who had suffered some kind of psychiatric disorder other than depression 83, and among men with depression 650. The study thus indicates that mental illness, especially depressive disorder, implies a considerably increased risk.