In Slovenia, a republic of Yugloslavia, 132 persons over 65 ended their lives in 1984: twice the number for the total population. In 50 cases, a somatic disease was the motive & a review of 32 of the medical records showed that the majority suffered from vascular diseases. In this summary, the authors describe the study & their findings which included a relatively large number of hypertensives & discuss the possible role of certain personality traits related to hypertension in suicide. (GW)