HOW COMMON IS SUICIDE AMONG THE DIFFERENT SUBTYPES OF DEPRESSION?

Even as underreported as it probably is, suicide is the eighth leading cause of death in the United States. Every year, roughly thirty thousand people kill themselves, and about eight to ten times that number make unsuccessful attempts. Suicide is more common among men (although women make four times as many attempts), those over 45, those who have never married or are divorced or widowed, those with chronic medical conditions, and, most significantly, those who have mood disorders. Most patients with major depression have suicidal thoughts at some time in their lives, and many of these patients carry out suicide attempts. A full 15% of those who suffer from repeated bouts of major depression ultimately kill themselves. Manic depressives are also prone to suicide, especially in the depressed phase of manic depression (16%). Some 10% of schizophrenics kill themselves, as do 5% of those with antisocial personality disorder. Drug addicts, prisoners, patients in mental hospitals, and people diagnosed with physical illnesses all have higher than normal suicide rates. Finally, alcoholics have a high rate of suicide, with as many as 15% ultimately killing themselves—and that’s not counting the long, slow suicide that masks as cirrhosis, the seventh leading cause of death in the United States.

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