Suicide attempts, substance abuse, and personality

Area of Science:

• Psychiatry
• Psychology
• Addiction Medicine

Background:

• Substance abuse programs often treat individuals with complex psychiatric histories.
• Understanding co-occurring conditions in substance abuse is crucial for effective treatment.

Purpose of the Study:

• To examine the prevalence and characteristics of suicide attempt history in a substance abuse program cohort.
• To identify personality traits and clinical factors associated with suicide attempts in this population.

Main Methods:

• A cohort of 103 subjects in a substance abuse program were assessed for suicide attempt history.
• Psychiatric diagnoses (including major depression), substance abuse patterns, addiction severity, and personality measures (DSM-III-R, Eysenck) were compared between attempters and non-attempters.

Main Results:

• Twenty subjects (19.4%) reported a positive suicide attempt history.
• Women were more likely to have a history of suicide attempts.
• Attempters showed higher rates of additional psychiatric diagnoses (e.g., major depression), increased addiction severity, polysubstance abuse (especially alcohol and sedative-hypnotics), and higher scores on neuroticism and borderline personality measures.

Conclusions:

• Suicide attempt history is a significant factor in individuals seeking substance abuse treatment.
• Neuroticism and borderline traits, alongside impulse dysregulation, may be linked to both suicide attempts and more severe addiction.
• These findings highlight the need for integrated mental health and addiction treatment approaches.