Mental Illness and
Suicide - Facts
Although the great majority of
people who suffer from a mental illness do not die by suicide,
having a mental illness does increase the likelihood of
suicide compared to people who do not have one.
- An estimated 2-15 % of persons who have been diagnosed
with major depression die by suicide. Suicide risk is
highest in depressed individuals who feel hopeless about the
future, those who have just been discharged from the
hospital, those who have a family history of suicide and
those who have made a suicide attempt in the past.
- An estimated 3-20% of persons who have been diagnosed
with bipolar disorder die by suicide. Hopelessness, recent
hospital discharge, family history, and prior suicide
attempts all raise the risk of suicide in these individuals.
- An estimated 6-15% of persons diagnosed with
schizophrenia die by suicide. Suicide is the leading cause
of premature death in those diagnosed with schizophrenia.
Between 75 and 95% of these individuals are male.
- Also at high risk are individuals who suffer from
depression at the same time as another mental illness.
Specifically, the presence of substance abuse, anxiety
disorders, schizophrenia and bipolar disorder put those with
depression at greater risk for suicide.
- People with personality disorders are approximately
three times as likely to die by suicide than those without.
Between 25 and 50% of these individuals also have a
substance abuse disorder or major depressive disorder.
- People who die by suicide are frequently suffering from
undiagnosed, undertreated, or untreated depression.
Substance Use Disorders -
Facts
Suicide risk is increased by both legal and
illicit substance use. Research has addressed the increased
risk for particular substance use (e.g., alcohol), as well as
multiple drug use. Substance use disorders as it is used here
includes intoxication, binge drinking, withdrawal, as well as
substance dependence and substance abuse. Substance use
disorders and suicide occur more frequently among youth and
adults, compared to older persons. For particular groups at
risk, such as American Indians and Alaskan Natives, depression
and alcohol use and abuse are the most common risk factors for
completed suicide. Alcohol and substance abuse problems
contribute to suicidal behavior in several ways. Persons who
are dependent on substances often have a number of other risk
factors for suicide (e.g., runaway and homeless youth). In
addition to being depressed, they are also likely to have
social and financial problems. Substance use disorders can be
common among persons prone to be impulsive, and among persons
who engage in many types of high-risk behaviors that result in
self-harm.
Alcohol-related Suicides
- Between 40 and 60% of those who die by suicide are
intoxicated at the time of death. An estimated 18-66% of
those who die by suicide have some alcohol in their blood at
the time of death.
- An estimated 1-6% of individuals with alcohol dependency
will die by suicide. People who are addicted to alcohol are
at higher risk if they also suffer from depression. At the
time of death by suicide, 50-75% of alcohol-dependent
individuals are suffering from depression.
- Adolescents who die by suicide are more likely to use a
firearm than another method if they have alcohol in their
blood at the time of death.
- Suicide rates among 18-20 year-olds were found to
decrease among several states where the minimum legal
drinking age was raised to 21.
Other Substance
Use Disorders
- Intoxication by drugs or alcohol may increase suicide
risk by decreasing inhibitions, increasing aggressiveness
and impairing judgment. Additionally, substance use such as
alcohol increases the lethality of some medications, making
it more likely that a suicide attempt via overdose will be
lethal.
- Research suggests that adolescents who use marijuana
and/or cigarettes are at increased risk of suicide. Studies
have also found that as many as 20% of those who die by
suicide have used cocaine in the days prior to death.
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