Attempted Suicide and Alcoholism in Bipolar Disorder: Clinical and Familial Relationships

This study examined the clinical & familial relationships between comorbid alcoholism & attempted suicide in 337 affectively ill relatives of patients with bipolar I disorder. The authors found that subjects with bipolar disorder & alcoholism had a 38.4% lifetime rate of attempted suicide, whereas those without alcoholism had a 21.7% rate. Attempted suicide among subjects with bipolar disorder & alcoholism clustered in a subset of 7 families. Families with alcoholic & suicidal patients had a 40.7% rate of attempted suicide in first-degree relatives, whereas other families had a 19% rate. (14 refs)