Some Clinical Considerations in the Prevention of Suicide Based on a Study of 134 Successful Suicides

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Abstract
A study of 134 consecutive successful suicides was done by means of systematic interviews with family, in-laws, friends, job associates, physicians, ministers, and others a short time after the suicide. Some of the major findings which may be helpful in planning a program of suicide prevention included (a) Of the suicides, 98% were clinically ill; 94% of them psychiatrically ill. (b) Of the total group 68% were suffering from 1 of 2 diseases: manic-depressive depression or chronic alcoholism. (c) No patient was found with an uncomplicated "neurosis" (anxiety reaction, conversion reaction or obsessive-compulsive reaction). (d) Of the manic-depressives 68%, and of the alcoholics 77%, communicated their suicidal intentions prior to their suicides. (e) Of the manic-depressives and alcoholics 62% had had medical and psychiatric care for the illness associated with their suicides, within 1 year of their deaths. The manic-depressives had had even more care than had the alcoholics, 73% versus 40%, respectively. Closed-ward hospitalization was suggested as the only currently available effective means of preventing suicide.

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