Suicide and the Dexamethasone Supression Test in Unipolar Depression

Studied 243 inpatients with unipolar depression who had received dexamethasone suppression tests. Of 205 patients with primary depression, the 4 who later suicided were among 96 with abnormal DST results; 1 patient with secondary depression committed suicide despite a normal DST result. It is suggested that hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal dysfunction is associated with a type of primary depressive illness that is more likely to involve suicide than are other types. (10 ref)