Depression and Suicide

This article is a short review of associations between depression and suicide, and formed part of a symposium held in Munich in August 1988 to discuss toxicity in antidepressive therapy. The association between depressive disorders and suicide is well documented. The detailed characteristics of this association, however, are still under discussion. Phenomenological aspects of depression seem to be more important than nosological ones, especially associations between personality traits, aggression and depression. Differentiation of depressions into primary and secondary depressive disorders (the latter as consequences of somatic or especially other mental disorders, such as schizophrenia, personality disorder, or alcoholism) can be a fruitful approach to elucidating differences in the suicide pattern of these different disorders. Recurrent depressive episodes, although they may be short, may have as severe mental symptoms as more longstanding episodes and thus partly explain suicide in nonpsychiatric as well as psychiatric populations. Ways of preventing suicide are discussed from biological and clinical perspectives.