Year: 1985 Source: JAMA, v.254, no.7, (August 16, 1985), p.915-918 SIEC No: 19860641

All suicides were ascertained for 1880-1980 in a study of mental illness among the Old Order Amish. The majority (92%) of the 26 cases were diagnosed with a major affective disorder & were situated in multigenerational families with heavy loading for bipolar, unipolar & other affective-spectrum illnesses. Suicides clustered in 4 primary pedigrees & the role of inheritance was suggested by the way in which suicides followed the distribution of affective disorders in these kinship lines.