Suicide and Manic-Depressive Illness: an Overview and Personal Account (IN: The Harvard Medical School Guide to Suicide Assessment and Intervention, edited by D G Jacobs)

The first section of this chapter provides an overview of suicide in manic-depressive illness. Specific attention is devoted to the rates of attempted & completed suicide, clinical correlates of suicide, & treatment issues such as medication noncompliance. The second section recounts the author’s personal experience with manic-depressive illness, & the factors which lead up to a nearly lethal suicide attempt.