Consultation versus research diagnoses of mental disorders among suicide attempters

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Abstract
We investigated discrepancies between the routine psychiatric emergency consultations and the research diagnoses of mental disorders among suicide attempters. Of a systematic sample of 114 suicide attempters in Helsinki, 73 subjects had received a psychiatric consultation at an emergency room or department. All attempters were later comprehensively interviewed, and research diagnoses in accordance with the DSM-III-R were assigned on the grounds of all available information. Depressive syndromes and alcohol dependence or abuse were diagnosed significantly more often after the research interview than at the routine emergency consultation (78% versus 58%, and 51% versus 36%, respectively). The findings suggest that important mental disorders, and their comorbidity, are often not diagnosed in emergency consultations.