Span J Psychiatry Ment Health. 2026 Jan-Mar;19(1):11-15. doi: 10.1016/j.rpsm.2021.12.007. Epub 2022 Jan 11.
ABSTRACT
INTRODUCTION: Bipolar disorder, especially Bipolar II disorder, is a mental disorder with high risk of fatal suicide behavior (FSB). The aim of this study was determine rate and risk factors of FSB in a cohort of Bipolar II patients followed after their first hospitalization.
MATERIAL AND METHODS: We recruited all Bipolar II patients according DSM-IV criteria who were hospitalized for first time in our Psychiatric unit between 1996 and 2016 (N=59). We collected clinical variables during their first hospitalization and identified all patients with FSB during follow-up until 31st December 2020. We compared baseline variables between Bipolar II patients with FSB and the ones without FSB.
RESULTS: The average age at FSB was 45.5 years old and there was a 2-year gap on average between the first psychiatric hospitalization and completed suicide. FSB was characterized by a violent act (83% of cases). When we compared Bipolar II patients who died by suicide with who died by other causes or they are alive, only a history of previous violent suicide attempt (p<0.05) was detected as a risk factor significantly associated with FSB. 10% of Bipolar II inpatients died by suicide, all of them in the first five years after the first hospitalization and usually by a violent method.
CONCLUSIONS: Bipolar II disorder has a high rate of completed suicide. History of a previous violent suicide attempt is a predictor of completed suicide.
PMID:41966061 | DOI:10.1016/j.rpsm.2021.12.007
