High Rate of Antidepressant Treatment in Elderly People who Commit Suicide

This study examined cases of suicide among elderly people to see whether they had been taking antidepressants. The subjects were 75 Scandinavian born people aged 65 or over (40 men, 35 women) whom committed suicide and were examined by the Goteborg Institute of Forensic Medicine from January 1994 to July 1995. Postmortem analysis of legal drugs revealed 12 men and 17 women had detectable levels of antidepressants or lithium at necropsy.