Multiple sclerosis and suicide attempts: A review including a meta-analysis of prevalence

Background. Multiple sclerosis is an autoimmune inflammatory demyelinating disorder, and persons diagnosed with multiple sclerosis have a shorter life expectancy than the general population. Recent meta-analyses have examined the association between MS and suicide and between MS and suicidal ideation. The objective of the present review was to examine if MS is associated with a […]

Predictors of suicidal ideation in multiple sclerosis.

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Rorschach Contributions to Assessment of Suicide Risk (IN: Assessment, Treatment, and Prevention of Suicidal Behavior, edited by R I Yufit & D Lester)

This chapter opens with a discussion of the various ways in which the Rorschach has been used to assess suicide risk, including single sign approaches & the Rorschach suicide constellation. The strengths & weaknesses of these approaches are reviewed. Recent research contributions, clinical risk factors for suicide & the Rorschach, & a case history in […]

Anxiety Disorders and Their Clinical Correlates in Multiple Sclerosis Patients

Demographic & neurological data were collected on 140 consecutive patients with multiple sclerosis attending a clinic. The lifetime prevalence of any anxiety disorder was 35.7%, with panic disorder, obsessive compulsive disorder, & generalized anxiety disorders being the most common. Of the 50 patients diagnosed with an anxiety disorder, 46% reported suicidal intent & 6.0% reported […]

Suicide Among Danes With Multiple Sclerosis

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Interferon Beta-1a-Induced Depression and Suicidal Ideation in Multiple Sclerosis

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Depression is a Treatable Cause of Suffering Among Multiple Sclerosis Patients and can Result in Suicide

Ethical and Practice Issues: Suicide on the Internet

A presentation by the authors highlighting the uncertainties of online communication at the general level & as they may be compounded around issues of aid in dying & physician-assisted suicide, is summarized.

Rational and Assisted Suicidal Communication on the Internet: a Case Example and Discussion of Ethical and Practice Issues

This article discusses an actual experience the authors had with a self-described rationally suicidal man with multiple sclerosis. After presenting some background on MS, the authors report initial interactions with the man verbatim and summarize subsequent correspondence in an analysis of the man’s claim that his decision to die was well reasoned and that he […]

Neurologic Disorders Raise Overall Suicide Risk

This article summarizes the speakers of the annual meeting of the Academy of Psychosomatic Medicine in 2000. These speakers state that most neurologic disorders increase overall suicidality, but the risk to each patient must be understood in terms of specific psychosocial factors as well as the shifts in risk that occur in the course of […]

Risk Factors for Suicide in Multiple Sclerosis

The purpose of this study was to identify risk factors for suicide in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS). Sociodemographic data, age of onset, the course of the disease, recent deterioration, type of deterioration, DSS score, previous mental disorder, type of mental disorder, previous suicide attempts, expression of suicidal intentions, circumstances at suicide, & suicide method […]

Multiple Sclerosis, Depression, and Suicide: Clinicians Should pay More Attention to Psychopathology

This editorial discusses depression among patients with multiple sclerosis – up to half of patients experience depressive symptoms of sufficient severity & duration to warrant a diagnosis of major depressive affect during the course of their illness. A brief review of research on the relationship between depression & suicide risk in these patients is presented. […]

Suicide and Multiple Sclerosis: an Epidemiological Study

Valproate in the Treatment of Mood Disorder due to Multiple Sclerosis

In this letter to the editor, the authors present the cases of 2 multiple sclerosis patients whose mood disorders were treated with sodium valproate, an anticonvulsant. One patient, a 56-year-old male, was referred to the hospital because of dysphoric mood disorder with a significant high risk of committing suicide. The other patient, a 40-year-old woman, […]

Suicide and Patients With Neurologic Diseases

Studies examining the suicide risk in patients with neurologic diseases are often encumbered with methodologic problems. The authors conducted a literature review of published reports on the most common neurologic diseases & noted 5 methodologic problems. An increased suicide risk was found in multiple sclerosis patients & selected groups of epilepsy patients. In other neurologic […]

MS Mortality

In this letter to the editor, the authors discuss a report by Sadovnick et al (1991) on the investigation of mortality rates among multiple sclerosis patients. Stenager et al suggest that standardized mortality rates should also be calculated to permit comparison to other studies concerning the suicide risk of these patients. The reply of Sadovnick […]

Suicide and Multiple Sclerosis: an Epidemiological Investigation

The risk of death by suicide for MS patients was assessed using records kept at the Danish Multiple Sclerosis Registry & the Danish National Register of Cause of Death. 53 of 5525 patients committed suicide. The cumulative lifetime risk of suicide from onset of MS, using an actuarial method of calculation, was 1.95%. The standard […]

Medical Illness and Suicide (IN: Suicide Over the Life Cycle, ed. by S J Blumenthal and D J Kupfer)

This article reviews studies which explore the link between physical illness & suicide. Results of studies are included for AIDS, cancer, diabetes, epilepsy, head injuries, Huntington’s Chorea, hypertension, multiple sclerosis, peptic ulcers, premenstrual syndrome, pulmonary disease, arthritis, & spinal cord injuries, as well as for hospital patients & people undergoing medical procedures. Rational suicide is […]

Suicidal Tendency and Multiple Sclerosis

This article examines the relationship between various physiological, psychological & social variables & suicidal tendency among people with multiple sclerosis (MS). In 1986, a sample of 147 respondents with MS was obtained. The authors studied the absence of social support systems as an important predictor of suicidal tendency in people with MS. Findings suggest the […]

Cause of Death in Patients Attending Multiple Sclerosis Clinics

Between 1972-88, 145 deaths occurred among 3,126 multiple sclerosis (MS) patients in 2 Canadian clinics. 18 of 119 cases in which the exact cause of death was known were suicides, with another 2 deaths which may have been suicide. The proportion of suicides among MS patients was 7.5 times that for the age-matched general population. […]

Suicide Among MS Patients

This article describes the relationship between Multiple Sclerosis (MS) & suicide. The suicide rate is 13-14 times higher in MS patients than in the general population. This study is an interim report on 18 suicides in a series of 46. Interviews were conducted with family members or spouses of the suicide victims. Most suicide victims […]

Physical Disease & Disability Among 416 Suicide Cases in Sweden

Suicides in Uppsala, Sweden between 1977 & 1984 were analyzed. Of 416 persons who committed suicide, 70 had a somatic disease of probable importance for the suicidal act. Although no somatic diagnosis was especially associated with a very high risk of suicide, some diagnoses (e.g. malignant neoplasm, Parkinson’s disease, multiple sclerosis) were associated with a […]

Suicide and Fatal Accidents in Multiple Sclerosis

Certificates of 408 deaths listing multiple sclerosis as cause were analyzed for co-existence of suicide and fatal accidents. Four suicides occurred, all in females, ages 30-49. Four of an additional six accidental deaths were related to heat, smoke, burns or fire. In addition to identifying the high risk group, hypothetical correlations between neurological symptoms in […]