In order to better understand why 10% of suicide completers seem to be psychiatrically normal, the authors studied suicide completers without an axis I diagnosis & compared them, on measures of psychopathology other than axis I, to normal controls & suicide cases with axis I psychopathology. 14 of 16 suicide cases without an axis I diagnosis had detectable abnormalities that were more similar to the axis I group than to a living group. Psychological autopsy for suicide completers without axis I diagnosis is encouraged. (32 refs)