Suicidal Ideation and Suicide Attempts in Bipolar Disorder Type I: an Update for the Clinician

This article reviews the research evidence for the major risk factors associated with suicidal behaviour in bipolar disorder. Bipolar disorder is strongly associated with suicide ideation & suicide attempts. In clinical samples, between 14-59% of the patients have suicide ideation & 25-56% have made at least one lifetime suicide attempt. Approximately 15-19% of patients with bipolar disorder die by suicide. Some strong predictors of suicidal behaviour noted in the literature are current mood state, severity of depression, anxiety, aggressiveness, hostility, hopelessness, comorbidity with other Axis I and Axis II disorders, lifetime history of mixed states, & history of physical or sexual abuse. (87 refs.)