Lifetime Risk of Suicide for Affective Disorder, Alcoholism and Schizophrenia

27 mortality studies provided data for affective disorder, 27 for alcohol dependence & 29 for schizophrenia. The proportion of the cohort who had died was plotted against the proportion of deaths from suicide. Modelling techniques fitted curves through the data points extrapolating them to cohort extinction. The lifetime risk of suicide was estimated at 6% for affective disorder, 7& for alcohol dependence & 4% for schizophrenia. Lifetime suicide risk figures often quoted appear to be too high.