Psychiatric, Physiological, Behavioral and Self-Report Measures in Relation to a Suicide Attempt

Noted a continuing increase in plasma cortisol over a 6-wk period prior to & following a 49-yr-old depressed female’s suicide attempt in a psychiatric research unit, & a rapid return to normal levels after the attempt. Psychiatrists’ ratings of affect states, but not of anxiety, correlated highly with those of nurses & the patient. Proposes that high depression & hostility, feelings of social isolation & low anxiety & high plasma cortisol levels in the blood increase the likelihood of suicide.