Suicide Outside the Care of Mental Health Services: a Case-Controlled Psychological Autopsy Study

The characteristics of people who completed suicide while outside the care of mental health services were studied. Analysis revealed that key predictors of suicide were previous suicide attempts, social & interpersonal problems, current mental illness, past mental illness, & previous contact with specialist services. However, nearly a third of cases appeared to have no current mental disorder. Implications of these findings are discussed. (32 refs)