Adjustment Disorder and Suicide (IN: Suicide – an Unnecessary Death, edited by D Wasserman)

This chapter discusses common symptoms of adjustment disorder – despondency, a sense of hopelessness, the feeling that one is not functioning as usual, & being close to tears. Anxiety is also common. Individuals with a diagnosis of adjustment disorder who complete suicide are usually fragile, sensitive, easily hurt, & susceptible to stress. Longtitudinal follow-up studies of patients with adjustment disorder who underwent crisis intervention show these patients do not have a higher risk of developing depressive symptoms or completing suicide. A case history of a 24-year-old female is provided. (4 refs.)