Depression, delusions, and suicide

Abstract

A retrospective analysis of all the suicides at the New York State Psychiatric Institute [USA] for 25 yr was carried out. Diagnoses were analyzed according to Research Diagnostic Criteria and DSM-III [Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, III]; among the patients who committed suicide there were 14 with unipolar endogenous depression. Of those 14 patients, 10 were considered delusional or probably delusional. In comparison, a control group of similarly diagnosed depressed patients taken from the same institution over the same time period included far fewer delusional depressions. There was a significant association between delusions and suicide: A delusionally depressed patient was 5 times more likely to commit suicide than a nondelusional one.